


we're in the endgame now

by starkreactor



Series: coffee, beer, and the end of the world [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, also there is some porn here so yeet, and it has turned into a fixit fic, here is to endgame tonyloki interactions, some of my theories came true so it’s kind canon-ish now, somewhat of a rewrite of ragnarok plus endgame speculations, this is written before endgame so endgame does not have influence in the plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-15 16:41:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18502915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkreactor/pseuds/starkreactor
Summary: The universe paused its' destructive mission to give Loki the chance to fall in love and he took that chance with Tony Stark and certainly doesn't regret it. Unfortunately, time is of the essence and the universe quickly returns to its' original mission to destroy itself from the inside out. Loki finds himself estranged from Tony and facing Thanos again. From here on out, it’s the endgame.





	1. avengers assemble dinner dates

**Author's Note:**

> I kinda wanted to write a sequel to “get to know each other coffee conversation” (gtkeocc for short I suppose) and I wanted to do it before endgame so I wouldn’t be swayed by endgame’s plot. Some people in the comments wanted a sequel too so I decided why the hell not just write it out so...Here is that sequel! It includes ragnarok, infinity war, and some of my ideas about endgame though of course it’s not exactly what I expect from endgame because this has frostiron and sadly that is not canon. BUT! at least there are tonyloki interactions in endgame thanks to those bts pics so I take what I can get.
> 
> anyway, thank you for the positive feedback on gtkeocc! I wasn’t sure if a sequel would be wanted but I’m glad to see that it is. now here’s a story of how Loki and Tony tried to save the world ♡

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Loki fall further in love, cementing a forever that will last twice as long.

“Have you ever faced paparazzi before?”

Loki, who was busy dicing up steak into cubes, looked up from his dinner with carefully raised eyebrows. He took a slow sip from the ale pooling in his beer glass and set it down with a satisfied hum. “I grew up as a prince, Anthony. Surely you can infer the answer from that.”

Tony balked. “Asgardian paparazzi are a thing? You don’t even have cameras up there.”

“There need not be cameras when the tongue is often sharper and mightier than the sword.” Green eyes turned to look into sparkling brown. “I assume there is reason for you bringing up this topic during our dinner.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure we got stalked tonight. I can feel extra eyes on us in that stalker-y way, you know?”

Loki laughed. He had wondered when the media would _finally_ invade Tony’s privacy and try to get a solid picture of the iron Avenger with his newly minted beau. He was surprised they were not caught when Tony dragged Loki into a ‘mall’ for intense Christmas shopping—Loki hoped he would never have to shop during holiday season ever again—and he was even more surprised no pictures leaked of their very inappropriate kissing at Times Square on New Year’s Eve during the ball drop. It would be sadly anticlimactic for the couple to be caught during a casual dinner with nothing to show but their love for each other. Though, Loki thought as he caressed Tony’s fingers with his own, perhaps that was the best time to catch them: staring into each other’s eyes while playing the game of public domesticity brought by dinner dates. The sorcerer sighed to himself and downed the rest of his ale with a minute shudder.

With a frown, Loki looked out the window and stared up into the stars that he had once fell between in what felt like another lifetime ago. He looked back at Tony and gently cocked his head. “Should I strengthen my glamour before we leave the vicinity?”

Tony shrugged. “I mean, I really don’t care how the hell the world feels about who I’m dating. I’m glad we lasted until March with the secret though. Usually, people are on my case about my new dates in just a handful of weeks.”

“You’re in a romantic relationship with a god of mischief, darling; if you never want them to know, I can make it so.”

“I like it when you call me darling,” purred Tony with a smirk on his pink lips. He turned to his wine glass and took a small sip. “We should get back to the compound though; I have some news to share about Vision and some of the escaped prisoners.”

“Of course,” he nodded, snapping his fingers to tighten the glamour’s mist. “I must share news about the state of the Nine Realms. I also feel the power of another stone on this realm but it’s energy is unfamiliar to me.”

“ _Another_ stone? So, not Vision but something else.”

“That is what another stone means, Anthony.”

Tony gave him a look before stepping from his chair. “C’mon, let’s chat at my place, make out like horny teenagers in my labs, and then call it a night. Does that sound good to you?”

“It’s an agreeable way to end our dinner.”

The brunette grinned and held out a hand for his lover. Loki took it and squeezed lightly as he felt the stiffness radiating from Tony’s body at the prospect of leaving the safety the restaurant gave them. He leaned down and pressed a warm close-mouthed kiss to Tony’s temple and smiled when the man grumbled about the affectionate touch but leaned into it either way. Loki still found their relationship refreshingly new even though it had only been five months and most of their time was spent apart working on their own projects. Tony was working full time at Stark Industries, refactoring the company to prepare for a name change he imparted on Loki in the last weeks of January. “Stark International has a better ring to it anyway,” he had murmured to himself with a hand down Loki’s slacks and his mouth at the god’s neck. Loki really could have cared less at the moment but he agreed and Tony actually remembered all of that midst the drunken haze both men had been caught under.

Loki was still king of Asgard and Odin was still “Aiden” in the elder’s home. He visited the old man every other time he came to Midgard and sometimes Tony came with him. Odin liked to play chess with Tony, who would tell him weird childhood stories about building robots and taking apart computers to piece them back together in a better state than they were originally found in. Thor was still searching for infinity stones and occasionally came to visit Asgard and share the news of no stones yet there was an increase in the violence happening about the Nine. Loki would have gladly put more time into figuring out what exactly was plaguing the lands but Asgard was still rebuilding from Malekith’s attack and as the faux Allfather he had to attend to Asgardian needs first and foremost.

He was also spending a hefty amount of time on Midgard with Tony during their bi-monthly dinner dates where they would share updates on their personal activities and for whatever Midgardian nonsense Tony wanted Loki to partake with him that resided outside the confines of their dates. Loki didn’t mind taking out the extra time in his day to learn more about modern Midgardian life, especially when Tony had a rough day at the office and needed a break from the formulaic schedule of his week. His breakup with Pepper Potts was not the cleanest and sometimes ‘12%,’ as Tony grumbled late one night after an intense bout of fucking on the desk in his office, of their issues bled into the professional sphere. Returning to the office after a day spent with Avengers’ work or Iron Man necessary tasks typically meant hell for Tony—Miss Potts did not like Tony risking his life so often, even if nothing grand scale had happened on the Eastern Coast since Vulture—and Loki was great reprieve for the man at the end of those long days.

The sorcerer rubbed his thumb against Tony’s furrowed brow and kissed the wrinkles away with a warm huff. “Do not stress yourself over this. I can teleport to your abode and wait for you as you leave the venue alone.”

Tony shook his head. “They probably have pictures of us being all chummy already; if you leave suddenly the media will make an even bigger hoopla about us.” He sighed heavily and turned to give Loki a tired smile. “I just don’t want to deal with the ramifications this might have in the office. Pep and I are better now but there’s still some tension and seeing tangible proof of my new relationship might just set off the dynamite again.”

The man rubbed at his chest with his spare hand in a nervous tick Loki had noticed during the past few months. It still surprised Loki to see the reactor removed from his chest; during their first night together, Loki had kissed the scarred skin and lavished it’s ridges with his tongue. “The arc reactor saved your life,” he whispered into the darkness of the night, bringing up their antagonistic history as he had two slicked fingers burrowed deep in the man beneath him.

Tony had hummed nonchalantly and squirmed to get Loki to move his fingers again. “I guess I’ll just have to put in a new one if you start feeling antsy about domination again. I’d rather you dominate my ass than Earth though so if you could _please_ get on with it already.”

To Loki’s knowledge, Tony was indeed working on developing new Iron Man armor stored directly in the arc reactor thanks to nano-bot technology. On some nights when the media was tracking Tony like they would die if he wasn’t in front of their cameras, the two did not eat out. Friday would order pizza instead, maybe Tony would cook (“Cooking is just another application of science, Lokes.”), and Loki would try to distract him by being overly domestic and kissing Tony’s neck in the kitchen until he was shoved against the island counter and blown to kingdom come.

Anyway, after dinner on these nights, Loki would study foreign maps and Asgardian province charters in the lab as Tony continued his work on the newly developing technology. Just two weeks ago Loki found himself distracted from reading a petition as he watched Tony, who was wearing a short sleeved crop top with the Avengers’ logo on the left sleeve and gray sweats with his reading glasses on his nose, code on a terminal connected to his Starkpad. Blue holographic images swirled around him and his virtual keyboard—which was not decorated with Romanized characters but instead mapped with Mayan numerals and various electrical engineering and circuit design symbols, along with basic English grammar punctuation—glowed under his fingers as his eyes quickly traversed the images and text. It was mesmerizing watching Tony work; he was extremely focused on his task and intelligence and wit radiated from his being as he labored. Loki was frankly smitten and when he locked eyes with Tony, all thoughts on finishing the petition briefing notes was tossed aside in preference for kneeling between the man’s legs and making him forget that two plus two equals four.

Loki kissed Tony’s nose and gently elbowed him toward the exit. The brunette gathered himself, squeezed the god’s hand, and pulled him through the exit to throngs of flashing lights. Tony slipped on the sunglasses he had hanging off his collar and bustled his way through the crowds, still keeping a tight grip on Loki like he was his lifeline. Loki kept his head down and followed until the two approached Tony’s car. The incredibly invasive humans were desperate to get a word from Tony, shoving microphones and recording devices into his face as they yelled at him to comment on his boyfriend. Loki snorted at the term; while he had been overjoyed by using it when they first started dating, it didn’t seem to fit them anymore. The term was too childish for men as old as them, too broad for the relationship that only occured under the specific conditions it had developed under, too narrow for the scope of their feelings for each other. He wished English carried a better term to encompass their relationship but until such a word was invented, he supposed boyfriend would have to do.

Tony made no comments whatsoever as he and Loki piled into the car and blocked the paparazzi from having a verbal answer. The man took a moment to collect his breath and then turned to Loki with a wide grin. It didn’t quite reach his eyes but Loki allowed him the privacy of believing he could fool Loki into thinking he was okay after the incident. Loki leaned over to press a kiss to his lips in reassurance and Tony melted under him. He opened his mouth to let Loki snake his tongue in against his own and moaning lowly as Loki sucked at his tongue with a hum. The kiss was sultry so when Tony pulled away for a breath, Loki was halfway to hard and beyond ready to return to Tony’s home and have his way with him. The drive was relatively short but it felt like eternity as Tony kept biting at his plush bottom lip and Loki kept wanting to kiss him stupid like a drunkard with a death wish.

He was pressed into the wall almost immediately once the door to Tony’s room shut behind him. Tony was kissing him frantically and Loki could taste the panic in his mouth. The god grabbed the man’s hands and slowed the kiss, stroking Tony’s fingers until the kissing stopped and they stood there breathing on each other’s lips. Tony’s hands were shaking between Loki’s own and Loki opened his eyes to pull their twined fingers to his mouth for a soft kiss before lightly kissing Tony’s lips once more. Tony opened his eyes too, trained on the sight of his own callused and veiny fingers interlocked with Loki’s long pale ones.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed into the space between their lips.

Loki shook his head. “Apologies are unnecessary.” He kissed Tony’s forehead and then pulled him closer to tuck him in under his chin.

Warm breath dampened his skin as Tony nuzzled into his neck. “It’s stupid to still be nervous about the media. I grew up with it for fucks’ sake. I can play those fuckers like a fiddle whenever I want.” His grip on Loki tightened just enough. Loki kissed the top of his head. “I don’t want us to be a secret; I don’t want my sexuality to be one, either, and it’s not anymore but the publicity...”

He trailed off but Loki nodded. He knew how coming out worked on Midgard, how invasive and overbearing media was on those who professed attractions different from the expected. Tony’s press conference all those months ago had rocked the world and he still dealt with the ramifications. Since no one had even seen Tony’s new love interest many thought it to be a publicity stunt to derail from the Avengers’ Initiative falling apart. The solid proof from tonight would give air to rumors and restart the commotion and this time Loki would be in the center. Tony was rightfully anxious.

“It will pass,” Loki empathetically replied, “and Stark International will be proud to represent their president and owner in all his glory with his loved ones at his side.”

Tony scoffed but pressed a kiss into Loki’s neck. “I still need the board to approve of the name change but there’s a board meeting tomorrow so I’ll text you and let you know how that goes. The Stark Enterprise subsidiary out in L.A. is doing well though. I’m glad I started that last year; it gives me something to do when HQ hates my ass.”

Loki nodded. “I still wish to visit the company grounds.”

“Next time, yeah? I gotta go visit soon anyway; CEO shouldn’t be too far from his baby while she’s so new.” He chuckled and pulled from Loki with a yawn. “Damn I’m beat. Is a raincheck on the ‘horny making out in my labs’ plan ok?”

“Right as rain, Anthony.”

He smiled and patted Loki’s arm. “Beautiful. Hey, you know I love you, right?”

“I always know. Your feelings are very much reciprocated.”

Tony hummed and stood on his toes to kiss the god’s cheek. “Goodnight, Loki. See you in a bit.”

“Goodnight.”

Loki switched to his Odin glamour and left in a swirl of gold. A heavy sigh pushed against his lips as he stared out at Asgard and her heavenly aura draped across his skin. Loki would never be tired seeing her beauty from the Bifrost; he only wished it felt like home instead of a self imposed prison. He wished he could toss aside all responsibilities and merely live on Midgard, buried in Tony’s arms for however long the universe would allow. Unfortunately, the universe had continued it’s self destruction and it was truly up to Tony and Loki to regroup the Avengers before time ran out.

 _Time_.

Loki paused at his mirror in the Allfather’s solar. Time was the next player in this game. Was that the stone power he was feeling? Such mystical forces that played with the edges of that ever fluid fourth dimension; it interplayed with the residual magic the mind and space stones stored in Loki. The god wondered when its user would appear to them. In the meantime, Loki has Asgard to rebuild, people to please, and his partner to console. Time could wait just a little while longer.

Time, of course, would not.

The visit to Stark Enterprises took a month as Loki was side tracked with rebuilding the townhouses in the northern sector near the mountains and Tony was dealing with media fallout from paparazzis releasing the photos. Tony held a press conference for the day Loki came to visit and Loki wasn’t forced to attend the conference but he stood by Tony’s side—well, he was technically standing with staff and bodyguards next to the stage Tony was on—and supported him as best he could. Tony announced the new name change for Stark Industries and announced the start of another charity program to be helmed by him like the Maria Stark Foundation, aptly named the Anthony Stark Foundation and funded by the subsidiary Stark Enterprises.

“I also call it the Bi-ron Man Funds because I’m bisexual and proud of it,” here Loki smiled lovingly, “but most of all I want to help people like me, people who aren't straight and those who aren't cisgendered either to have the support necessary to grow into themselves and represent a safe welcoming community.”

It was a great conference and Tony kissed Loki for the cameras but made love to him under the stars and full moon that made his aging skin glow like an angel. Loki loved him more and more with each touch of their sweaty skin as he rocked in those strong mechanic’s arms and relearned why he was so enchanted by this mortal man.

Tony’s birthday the next month was an affair as well. Loki wasn’t in the habit of celebrating birthdays so he asked for advice from the receptionist at the elder’s home and Odin, who knew from the birthdays he helped celebrate during his years in the elder’s home. The sorcerer didn’t want to make a big deal out of the fact but given Tony was avoiding it yet spending more time with James Rhodes in particular during his rehab, Loki decided to do a small celebration of sorts.

The hardest part was getting Potts to agree to participate in the get together. Loki had convinced Rhodes, Happy Hogan, and Peter Parker to join in and honestly wasn’t planning on inviting Potts but Tony had made some side comment about the arc reactor she framed for him that saved his life and Loki knew she was necessary. Being approached by her ex’s new interest probably wasn’t any help but after a few more attempts he finally was able to greet her in her office at Stark International HQ.

“Thomas,” she started once the door closed ominously behind him. Her brown eyes were unamused yet strangely narrowed with distrust. Loki unconsciously tightened his glamour and smiled at the woman.

“Miss Potts,” he returned in kind, “I want to thank you for taking out the time in your busy schedule to talk with me.”

“I know it’s something about Tony so it’s better to eventually let you in than for the problem to boil over and make a mess. His past has a tendency to be volatile like that.” Potts rolled her eyes and stood from her desk. She was scarily intimidating but Loki knew she wouldn’t harm him. “I also know his birthday is coming up soon. Last time he threw an extravagant party he was covering up the fact he was about to die.”

Loki watched the woman squeeze her eyes shut before steeling herself to prepare for whatever news Loki was going to share with her. He smiled softly. “He is not dying anymore than any average person does.”

“Tony isn’t average.”

“Oh, I know.” Loki winked and Potts scoffed but her high cheeks were rosier. The god considered that a win. “He isn’t dying anymore than any superhero does, either.” Her blush drained from her face with too quick an ease. Loki inclined his head. “I understand your concerns for Tony. I share them, too. I also know he’s a sentimental fool who won’t admit it so he’s been spending time with old pre-Iron Man friends as the day approaches.”

Potts crosses her arms with a wry smile. “You want me to celebrate his birthday with him.”

“Yes. 47 is not a particularly interesting number but,” his fists clenched as he thought about Thanos, the Infinity Stones, the Other, the Chitauri, the Nine falling apart under his watch, “time is of the essence and every day we live is to be cherished.”

Silence coated the tense air with unbent anxiety. Potts turned her back to him. “So, he’s currently dying.”

“Not anymore than any superhero would be right now.”

“He’s about to die then.”

Loki’s temper found itself withering away. “What does it matter, Miss Potts? What does it matter if he is dying or not? Do you only care if he’s at his deathbed? Will you only celebrate if you think it’s the last time you’ll have a chance to?”

“He risks his entire life every day by being in that damned armor!” She snapped in return. “I celebrated every moment I had him after he came back from Afghanistan because I never knew which day will be the one he wouldn’t come back. I couldn’t live that life for the rest of our time. I couldn’t live with him being unable to put the armor down for the sake of _us_. He wanted to and he tried but Iron Man is always first.”

Gray-glamoured green eyes fell to the floor. “I am sorry he put you through such stress. I also carry such worries but I suppose I can live with it as long as I have his love.” _He will die before me either way_. “I respect you for knowing what you can and can’t handle with Tony but right now, he’s not Iron Man. He’s Tony Stark reaching out for friends to celebrate an important day. Please take the offered hand.”

Potts hadn’t replied and so Loki spent the next week organizing the event to Happy’s chagrin. On the day of, Tony woke up Loki with a gift of his hard and leaking dick, which Loki certainly wasn’t adverse to. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as Tony tangled his fingers in those black locks and shoved himself down Loki’s throat with heady groans. Loki stared into those lust blown brown eyes, watched Tony’s face contort whenever Loki’s tongue dragged over the thick vein that curled around his shaft. When Tony came down Loki’s throat and collapsed back in their shared bed with a happy sigh, Loki spread his legs apart and sucked at his still tinder asshole for retribution.

“My gift to you,” he moaned against the wet flesh as Tony’s thighs tightened around his head. His voice was slightly wrecked from Tony fucking his mouth and it certainly made Tony more aroused.

“Fucking hell, your _tongue_ , so good, so warm. I need you in me, _in_ me, Loki, please,” he rambled into the pillow he had buried his head into. Loki complied, using Tony’s mouth to wet his fingers and slide them into Tony alongside his tongue. Tony vibrated and turned to watch the god between his legs. “You’re so fucking _hot_ , fuck.”

Loki laughed but didn’t take any more time with foreplay before he pressed his dick into Tony and swallowed the man’s resultative cry as he sloppily kissed him. Tony was shaking under him, still sensitive from having come only a few minutes before. Loki seated himself fully and gently thrusted until a slow sensual rhythm was built between them. Tony liked to talk a lot during sex, he babbled nonsense unless his mouth was stuffed with cock and even then he found a way to still be a noisy little comeslut, but this morning he was awfully silent.

His glazed over eyes were trained on Loki, hands grabbing Loki’s ass and pulling him forward to keep the rhythm going. His mouth was open, soft huffs leaving his lips when Loki happened to brush up against his prostate every few thrusts. Loki kissed his face; he kissed his lips, his cheeks, his nose, his goatee, his eyelids, his forehead, wherever his lips could touch. He breathed into Tony’s neck and rocked into him and cradled Tony’s head between his arms as his pace sped up. He bit and sucked Tony’s neck until it bruised and then he lavished the purpling mark with his tongue. Tony’s hands raked up and down his back and then tangled in his hair until he pulled Loki’s face back to his.

“Loki,” the brunette gasped into his mouth. “Loki, Loki, Loki.”

“I’m here,” the god whispered hoarsely, feeling the tightening in his gut that called for him to spill himself inside his lover.

“I want you.”

“You have me.”

“Always?”

Loki shivered and took a hand to cup Tony’s face as his thrusts slowed. “You have me for long as you can and then some. If that is always, then it is always.”

Tony kissed him and bucked his hips to get the faster rhythm back on track and in the haze of panted gasps and sweat slicked skin Loki came with a shudder. He took a hand between them and brought Tony to his second completion a few jerks later. He rolled off the man and licked white from his fingers as Tony fought to catch his breath. The brunette eventually stretched and slid off the bed with a grin. Loki watched him with a satisfied smile. “I gotta say, Loki, morning sex is amazing but morning birthday sex? God tier.”

It took every inch of Loki’s will not to groan at the pun. “You’re welcome.”

Tony laughed heartily as he turned to his dresser to grab spare clothes. “Thanks then. You got anymore tricks up your sleeve? Rhetorical question; I know you’re a trickster. You won’t let me forget.”

“I have no tricks today, only a disgusting amount of romantic obligations to you.” Loki joined the man at the dresser and wrapped arms around his waist. He kissed Tony behind his ear. “I love you.”

“Love you, too. I’m gonna shower; do you wanna join?”

“You know absolutely no ablution will occur while we occupy the washroom together.”

“Obviously the only reason I keep you around is for the shower sex and not for the amazing way you lather me up with that spicy Asgardian body wash you keep around.” Tony picked out a black turtleneck sweater and held it up for inspection. “Will this look good on me?”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Is this another rhetorical question?”

“Yes and no because while the answer is _duh_ I’m curious about your opinion and I wanna hear it.”

“Selfless Tony Stark; never thought I’d see the day.”

Tony chuckled warmly and turned in Loki’s arms to kiss his grinning lips. His beard was rough against Loki’s skin and he sighed with pleasure. “Only for you, baby. Plus the safety of society hence the Avengers program but I don’t feel like fucking the Avengers’ Initiative right now, only you.”

“You are truly ravenous.”

“Then come on and satisfy my hunger, dickwad. It’s my special day; have some pity for an old man, yeah?”

Loki would have gladly let Tony take him in the shower but Tony got a call from Happy and was forced to cut all playtime short. With the unexpected free time, Loki decided to take a short trip to the elder’s home and visit Odin. The usual receptionist wasn’t there, which put Loki on edge, and when he went to Odin’s room, he found the old man stationed for bed rest.

“Aiden,” Loki frowned, pulling up a chair to sit beside him. “No one called to tell me your health has gotten worse.”

“I did not want to disturb your day. I know it is Anthony’s birthday.” Odin coughed a few times and it hurt Loki’s chest to hear it. “Please tell him I wish him well on this special day.”

“And you know he would wish you well in turn.” A lump was stuck in Loki’s throat. “Do you know what ails you?”

“Old age.” He laughed hoarsely. “Otherwise, the details are fuzzy. The doctors cannot pinpoint an exact diagnosis.”

Loki looked off to the side with a huff. If the Midgardian doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong, then the answer was probably some magical illness. The Odinsleep would help him heal but it also meant putting Loki, and in turn Tony, at risk. It also wasn’t guaranteed to keep Odin alive and required his return to Asgard for optimal magic presence. Loki could attempt to find the source of the ailment plaguing Odin but that required letting Aiden know about his magic. If anything, Loki could implant a buffer to stop things from spreading if it wasn’t bad already.

The sorcerer reached out a hand and placed it gently on Odin’s arm. “I am sorry to hear that. I do hope the doctors figure out what’s wrong soon. I don’t want to bring Anthony around seeing you so ill.”

Odin smiled and Loki’s grip on him tightened just enough for him to feel the magic coursing under the old man’s skin. It was tainted, very much poisoned, and he wondered if Odin had done this to himself in an attempt to break free from Loki’s spell. Loki let a few tendrils of his own magic dance across Aiden’s skin and distracted the man by explaining the get together he had planned for Tony’s birthday. He couldn’t find the source from the first glance but he immediately knew he would need to inspect for far longer and far deeper to understand the problem. Such inspection would have to wait for another day.

Back at Tony’s place, Loki found Rhodes and Happy chatting it up with Tony at the bar. Loki watched the brunette laugh at his friend’s jokes and felt a warmth in his chest at the sight. It made him happy to see Tony enjoying his life and taking time to spend with his friends. The god’s eyes landed on the bulge in Tony’s right front pocket and he sighed to himself. Tony always carried that blasted phone around but never picked up the device to call. It was the most direct way to gather the Avengers but Tony was adverse to using it for their mission to regroup the Avengers.

“If we’re gonna use this, we need to call when there is a visible and tangible emergency that we can’t handle on our own.” he had said when he showed Loki the device early on in their Avengers Reassemble dinner dates. “Right now, we only have speculation between the two of us and that’s not gonna be enough proof for Steve let alone the World Council.”

“Surely the fact that you call will help the dear captain understand it’s an emergency before he receives any details on the situation.” Loki finished off his beer with a shrug. “He never has to know you are working with me either and if he does which he eventually will given I’m your direct source, then he will have to learn to trust me proxy your faith in me.”

“The World Council would eat my ass for breakfast, lunch, _and_ dinner if I brought any attention to Steve and the other criminals, let alone if they knew I was working with a SHIELD classified criminal, too.” Tony poked at his pasta with a frown. “Your case was a hidden file in SHIELD but thanks to Natasha it’s all out there that you tried to enslave humanity. I don’t think the World Council would even care that you weren’t right of mind back then. They would lock us both up.”

“Your pride is—,”

“My pride has _nothing_ to do with this,” he had snapped with a low snarl. “I would love to call Steve and bring him back on a whim even if he’s buddy-buddy with the guy who murdered my mother and sided with him when he lied via omission about it. I’m regretful that the World Council locked my colleagues up but I offered a truce because we were being _played_ by Zemo. I did what I could when I learned they broke out of jail; I let them walk free back then and I will continue to let them walk free now. I’m already on a proverbial hit list for not answering to the Council’s beck and call.” Tony laughed sardonically. “Hell, Vision is out there with that damn witch and I could care less about her but I’m not going to tell him to come back. I’m not going to tell anyone to come back and face consequences they don’t deserve. I would have never signed those fucking Accords if I knew what breaking the law for the greater good turned into. I signed to protect the Avengers and keep us in line to protect the world, and the World Council turned that into a police state against superheroes that I _never_ wanted.”

Loki reached out a hand and let out a held back sigh when Tony took his time but eventually took Loki’s offered hand in his. “I understand, Anthony.”

The brunette dropped his fork and pushed away his half eaten food. “I have to play by those rules else the situation gets a hell of a lot worse for them and us. We need solid evidence and only then can I play with semantics of the rules I signed to bring the renegade Avengers back in the loop. I know exactly what I need to do, I just need that proof.”

Tony calling for Loki brought the god back into the present and he smiled as he made his way to the brunette and his friends. They had all met before in the past few months but never together all at once. Rhodes found it important to impart stories about Tony’s MIT days now that the four men were grouped up and Tony kept trying to derail the conversation to spare the embarrassment. It didn’t work of course and Tony whined on their way to the couch where he slumped in his seat and fake pouted. Loki in turn shared a few funny anecdotes about Tony from their various dates but tackled Tony on the couch when the man threw a pillow at his face.

The play fighting morphed into something of a mix between heavy petting and making out which Happy eventually broke up by spritzing water on them from a spray bottle. Tony, who was perched on Loki’s lap and had the god’s hands pinned above his head, balked and practically jumped off Loki with a yelp. “What the _fuck_ ; are we dogs now or something? Where the hell did you even get a fucking spray bottle, Happy?”

“I carry one on me at all times when it comes to you and your love life, Tony,” Happy drawled as he rolled his eyes.

Rhodes huffed with a wicked grin. “Besides, we didn’t come here to watch a porno live, we came here to celebrate my best friend’s birthday.”

“So it’s between a lame birthday celebration that happens every year or free once-in-a-lifetime Tony Stark porno; I gotta say I’ll take the free porn.”

“If I have anything to say about it, which I do,” started Loki from his position on the couch, “I’d rather keep our sex escapades private between ourselves.” The god sat up with a smirk. “I’m not sure if you want your friends to know how much you like calling me daddy.”

Tony blushed furiously and smacked Loki with another pillow. “That is _so_ not a kink I have! I have never called you daddy in bed, you absolute spawn of Satan.”

“Ah, but he doth not refute the act of calling his dearest lover daddy.”

“Of course he wouldn’t; he liked calling me mommy, too.”

Everyone turned at the new voice and Loki hid his smile when Tony scrambled to straighten his clothes and look more presentable, though Loki had sensed her presence when Happy sprayed him and Tony with water. If anything, he figured Potts had been the one to pass along the spray bottle. “Pepper!” Tony exclaimed, eyes widened with shock. “I didn't—you’re here? Did I mess up a release form? Is there something wrong at S.I. or S.E. HQ?”

“Nothing is wrong, Tony,” she laughed with a small smile on her lips. Her eyes locked with Loki for a split second before turning back to Tony. “It’s your birthday and I’m here to celebrate another passing year.”

Tony opened his mouth and closed it before crossing his arms defensively. “Yeah, today is that day. I just didn’t expect you to want to acknowledge it. Birthdays aren’t the best for me.”

She shook her head. “You were my friend before we got involved and as your friend I just want you to be happy and enjoy your life. Thomas helped me remember that.” Tony sent Loki a glare but the god merely shrugged as Potts continued. “You’re infuriating and frustrating to work with on a good day, but you’re a cherished part of my life. I’m just glad you’re living again and no longer surviving.”

Tony opened his arms and grinned when she rolled her eyes but went for the hug. “I’m glad you’re here, Pep. Even if my boyfriend conspired behind my back to get you here.”

“It worked,” purred Loki and Tony glared at him but blew him a kiss after his hug with Potts. He walked to Tony and took his hand in his with a gentle smile. “Happy birthday, Anthony.”

“Anthony?” Rhodes scoffed with raised eyebrows. “Wow, he lets you get away with that? He’s stupid in love, huh.”

“Ignore them,” Tony huffed as he leaned into Loki’s side and wrapped his arms around the god’s waist. “They are mean and jealous that I don’t let them use my full first name. It’s a privilege they haven’t earned yet.”

“I’m not sticking my dick up your ass to earn the privilege to call you Anthony.”

“It’s not dick up the ass that will get you that. After all, I still wasn’t allowed to call him Anthony.”

“Oh my god, Virginia,” choked Tony when he pulled from Loki’s chest. Rhodes spat out his water and Happy turned as green as Hulk. “Maybe if you were _good_ at pegging you would’ve earned the right to call me Anthony.”

Potts gasped with a hand to her chest. “My strap game was on point if your moans were anything to go on.”

“You literally never made me come with that silicon floppy banana up my ass!”

“Besides,” joined Loki with a shrug, “it does not take much to get Anthony moaning. Only if you render him silent do you know you’ve done your job.”

“I can’t believe my ex and my boyfriend are talking about their sex life with me as I’m literally right here. I hate you both. A lot.” he pinched Loki’s side and the god jerked at the sharp pinch then scowled down at the man. “No sex for you tonight, mister.”

“No sex for me means no sex for _you_. Are you sure about barring me from sex?”

Tony acted like he contemplated the question and then sighed a small _no_. Loki grinned and kissed his cheek. “Yeah, yeah, yeah; you’re so lucky I love you, asshole.”

“I carry an immeasurable amount of regard for you as well, Anthony.”

The brunette smiled and leaned up to chastely kiss Loki. They both flinched from each other when Happy spritzed them again. “Keep it PG, boys; we got a kid in the vicinity now.”

Tony was immediately out of Loki’s arms and greeting Peter Parker with contagious enthusiasm. Parker had brought a present for Tony, “It’s not really fancy, Mr. Stark. I hope you like it though! It’s probably nothing you can’t buy already, I mean you’re a billionaire, but my Aunt May said it’s the thought that counts.”

“Hush, kid; if it came from you then it’s nothing money can buy.” Parker held out the wrapped box and Tony visibly flinched before trying to pass off the knee jerk reaction as him suddenly scratching the back of his head. Loki perked at that; he would have to ask later as to why Tony didn’t like being handed certain things.

Potts took the present and placed it on the table for Tony to pick up later and warm thanks was in his gaze when he turned to her. The brunette turned back to Paker with a grin and slapped a hand on his shoulder before turning to the others. “You’ve probably already know everyone but it doesn’t hurt to reintroduce my crew: Happy, Pepper, Rhodey, and Thomas.” Parker greeted everyone shyly but gave Loki a wider grin as if sharing a secret between them.

The day continued forth with little hitches and Tony was seemingly over the moon with all the attention from the people he adored with all his heart. Loki was pleased as well and satisfied with the results of his efforts. He curled up with Tony on the couch as the group watched a few movies to end the night. Tony pressed a kiss to his temple and brought Loki from another obviously-love-but-not-love exchange between a captain and his first officer to give Tony his full attention.

“The whole Iron Fam is here,” he whispered with a bit of awe in his soft voice. “Today’s got to be the best birthday in a long time.”

“I’m glad you’re happy,” Loki replied as he twined their fingers together in his lap. “I’m also honored to be part of the ‘Iron Family’ as you have so eloquently named this particular subset of people.”

Tony beamed and his eyes twinkled with affection. “Of course you are. I trust you. No more yellow between us.” He looked over at his friends and then back at Loki. “I think we should tell them about you. Erase the yellow they don’t realize they’re seeing with us.”

Loki quirked his brow. “Do you believe them ready to accept news like that?”

“I have no idea but I’m tired of hiding and if we want more intel on Avengers, they need to know you’re helping fill me in details at the very least.” He squirmed out of Loki’s arms and paused the episode to Parker and Rhodes’ complaints. “Shut up, it’s not like you guys don’t have Netflix back home. We’ll watch more über gay space husbands later, I want to go outside and stargaze while drinking wine. Peter, you get grape juice, sorry kid.”

Once Friday helped Tony fix everyone’s drinks and checked security to insure no one had snuck onto the estate grounds and no drones were spying, the sextet made their way to the roof. Tony kept his hand in Loki’s as he and Parker squabbled over constellations and star names. Happy complained about the cold weather and Potts agreed with him, half ready to return inside. Tony stopped everyone from ganging up on him and leaving with an odd request only meant for Loki.

“Take off the glamour,” he grunted, stepping from the sorcerer with tight eyes. A minuscule part of Loki hesitated and developed a back up plan in the case of this being an elaborate trick. He trusted Tony deeply and cared just as much but he would always be anxious in moments exposing utter vulnerability.

Loki nodded slowly, eyes trained on his lover as the mask melted away until he was himself in full. Rhodes cursed under his breath and Happy stumbled from the speed it took for him to scramble from the sight before him. Loki was half worried that he had accidentally magicked off his Asgardian glamour and the horrified stares were for his Jotun form, but Tony put a hand on his shoulder and when the god looked into chocolate brown eyes, he found his soul trapped in the home those eyes provided.

Tony smiled warmly and kissed Loki tenderly before turning to his friends. Parker was unphased and simply smirking into his juice cup, Potts had a hand to her mouth like she almost screamed, Happy was shaking his head and mumbling, and Rhodes continued to stare as if the problem he saw would erase itself through intense eye contact. Potts spoke up first. “You’re telling me Loki, the guy who almost _killed_ you five years ago, has been parading as Thomas this entire time and you knew?”

“Yeah, see Pep, good dick really makes all the difference.” He laughed when no one else did and then sobered up. “To be serious though, we talked things out after I came back last summer and found out we could make things work on a professional and personal manner. Personal turned into super personal, like, I wanna suck your dick because I love you personal, but there is a professional relationship hidden in there, too.”

“Professional as in?” Rhodes asked with crossed arms and a heavy glare toward Loki.

Loki turned to him with nod. “We have been formulating a plan to reassemble the wayward Avengers in preparation for the arrival of the cosmos’ demise on Earth.” He gave Tony a glance and the man motioned for him to keep going. “I was not of my right mind five years ago but I have valuable information that can aid us as we prepare. The World Council and Ross certainly make things more difficult given the proof I have is in my word which is understandably unreliable as I am deemed an enemy of the state, but Anthony and I are working to gather tangible proof to present and use for evidence as to why the criminal Avengers should be returned to us without arrest.”

“I have a few books about the history of the universe from Asgard now, but again, while I trust and believe what Loki says, not everyone else does so we need to find another source.” Tony reached for Loki’s hand with a smile. “In the meantime and between time though, we got caught up in each other and well, here we are now.”

Silence filled the air after Tony’s words for an uncomfortable amount of time. Rhodes was the one who spoke up in the end. “Wow. Just give me a moment to process that you’re dating a _villain_.”

“Take your time but he’s not really a villain anymore, Rhodey.”

“My loyalties are certainly not tied to altruism and hero shenanigans, which perhaps paints me as the opposite to your hero image, but my loyalties are certainly tied to Anthony and thus, if you cannot believe me, at least believe and trust him.” Loki bowed his head. “Most of all, the end of the known universe is an issue I’d like to curb using all resources possible. Until then, I have no reason to be opposed to you all.”

“So after you use Tony and the Avengers to save the universe, you’re gonna go back to being a bad guy and trying to kill us?” spat Potts with a hiss. “I can’t believe you talked me into coming here.”

“Miss Potts, I would only want to kill you if you gave me a reason for you to be dead. I highly recommend you don’t.” The pointed glare they shared broke when Potts huffed and turned away. “Also, you came here on your own time. I merely wanted to make sure you knew I care about Anthony’s present, his future, and his past.”

“Speaking of the future,” started Tony in a bit of an awkward segway, “It’s great that you’re all here right now because I have a special future announcement to share today.” He patted his jacket pocket and then froze. “Ah, wait. I left it in my room; be right back. And,” he pointed at Rhodes and Potts with a glare, “don’t attempt to kill my boyfriend while I’m gone.”

The moment Tony was of ear shot, Parker whooped and rushed over to Loki’s side. “That’s so awesome that you’re helping Mr. Stark with your mission! You’re doing undercover work against the law, aren’t you?” Well, stealing Asgardian books and spying on the Nine while posed as Odin was technically against the law. “Do you think he’s recruit me to help? I definitely wanna help if I can.”

“While your expertise is valued, I can’t say Anthony would be pleased to have you working with us on such a dangerous mission.” Loki patted Parker’s head and the kid scowled up at him. “Don’t tell him I said this, but if you can find any proof about the existence of the Infinity Stones and the incoming threat, feel free to let me know.”

“Wow, so like a spying mission?”

Loki chuckled. “Sure.”

“You _knew_ already, too?” Happy unflatteringly sputtered as he stepped toward Parker. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s not like it’s my secret to tell,” the kid shrugged and Loki felt the beginnings of attachment latch inside his heart. Granted, the attachment had long since started when Tony gave Parker his internship back and they occasionally ran into each other in the R&D department at HQ. “Plus, I don’t see you guys often; Rhodey is in rehab a lot and Happy, you’re always working security all the time. You don’t even answer my texts anymore.”

“Hey, that was _one_ time and I was busy cleaning up the mess Vulture left behind with the Chitauri weapons.” the security guard grumbled under his breath before turning dark eyes on Loki. “And you, I swear, if you even think about hurting Tony in any fashion, I won’t hesitate to pop a cap in your face.”

“Like that would hardly do any damage,” drawled the god as he rolled his eyes. “You also assume that Anthony would not have found a way to hurt me just as bad in return. The man can defend his own honor as well as I can defend my own. If any human would have the answers to ending my life, it would be him.”

“Because he’s super smart or because you’re super in love with him?”

Loki gave Potts a knowing smile but Tony returned before he could actually answer her speculative question. Tony either ignored the evident tension between everyone or he was completely oblivious to it as he approached Loki. “Okay so, the end of the world is coming and the fact we know it’s coming means it’s soon, like very soon. I also understand that all the work you’re doing in Asgard is taking up a lot of time and with me working as CEO of the subsidiary we’re probably gonna slowly stop seeing each other as often.”

“I will always make time for you, Anthony.”

“I know, I know. And for that I’m grateful, really grateful. It’s just,” he halted his words and rubbed at his chest as he stared off at a point past Loki’s shoulder.

The god raised both eyebrows with slight suspicion but when Tony turned to look at him, all suspicion was blasted from his mind at the unadulterated adoration pooling in his moonlight sparkling eyes. Loki has lived over a thousand years already and seen many worlds with beauty unmatched but he would never find a sight as enchanting as Tony’s eyes when staring up at him with so much unfiltered love.

“I wanted to give you something a little more permanent while our meetups are super temporary. You already know I’ve kinda had a fat boner for you since Stuttgart but loving you is still pretty recent.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. Parker, who had stepped back in line with the other adults, choked on air. Potts, Happy, and Rhodes were also gasping but Loki could not for the life of him understand why they were so shocked. “Um,” he rubbed at his chest again and Loki took that hand in his and pulled it up to kiss those callused fingertips. Tony blushed but shook himself out of his stupor to kneel down on one knee.

Oh.

“Anthony,” wheezed Loki as his eyes started to burn. By the power of the Bifrost, he could not believe what was happening right in front of him.

“Look it’s kinda soon I guess but the end of the world is approaching and if I’m gonna die, if _you’re_ gonna die, because we couldn’t get it together in enough time...” Tony sounded choked up over those words and it made Loki want to hold him and protect him from Thanos for the rest of their lives. “I hate death. I’ve faced it a lot, I’ve indirectly caused a lot of it, and I’m gonna eventually face it one last time because there’s only so many times a guy can escape it. You of all people should know.” Loki gave a watery chuckle. “My point is, you said you’d have me always and I want you always too and god, marriage has always been such a pointless hassle to me, but for the first time I feel like it’s less about the show of it and more about the promise to commitment. So, yeah,” Tony opened up the box and gave Loki a small heartwarming smile, “until death do us apart, would you do me the honor of tying a couple decades of your life to me?”

Tony and Loki had only talked about their drastically different ages and life spans once. It was during an argument months ago, when Tony went to L.A. for his job and then San Francisco to help clean up some Ant-Man debacle. He had gotten injured on the job, a minor thing, but Loki had gotten worried about how fragile humans are and whatnot. They yelled at each other and Loki brought up the fact that he was already over a thousand years old and the past 6 years since he found out he was adopted was merely a blink of the eye in his existence and that Tony too would be a mere blink in his life span. Tony was upset about the implications that he wouldn’t matter to Loki after he died and they had settled the argument a couple weeks later by acknowledging that end of the world or not their time was limited and they should spend it as happy as they could because they mattered so much to each other.

This proposal was the second time Loki’s life span was brought into the conversation about them. It was a subtle point but still very telling. It also put the fact that Tony didn’t expect to live much longer in the spotlight and it clenched Loki’s heart until he couldn’t breathe. So this was the real test of loving a mortal. Not their lack of magical powers, not their odd ways of living. Not even their physical weaknesses and inferior body structures. It was their looming death: eight decades to live and love, if one was lucky to live that long in the first place. Eight decades that come and go so fast for Loki and his people but last so long for mortals. Tony was willing to tie the rest of his life down to Loki, not just tie a few decades of Loki’s life to him. Loki wasn’t sure if it was selfish to steal Tony from any other mortal lover for the rest of the man’s life or selfless to let Tony have him for the last few years of his life.

“Always goes beyond physical life, love. Death will not do us apart.” the god chuckled to himself with a nod. “You know the answer; you practically already proposed this morning.”

“Hey, proposals in the middle of coital bliss don’t count.” He stood up and took the ring out the box with a wide grin. With Loki’s hand in his own, he massaged Loki’s fingers before slipping the silver ring onto his third finger. Tony leaned up to kiss him softly. “Thank you.”

“Never thank me for loving you. That requires no gratitude.” He cupped Tony’s face and leaned down to press their foreheads together. “You will live many years with me, there is no thanks in that.”

Tony smirked and wrapped his arms around Loki’s neck. “I’ve tied down the big bad mischief wolf; this has gotta be my biggest accomplishment since creating the Iron Man armor.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

The brunette laughed and kissed Loki with all his heart, pulling him closer as they forgot about their audience and simply existed in the space of each other’s arms until breathing became an issue that neither party particularly wanted to address if it meant breaking the kiss. Happy took the spray bottle to them again, which made Tony yell and chuck the ring box at his head. Parker and Potts started laughing between themselves and Rhodes tried to calm Tony before he tried to fight Happy head on even though the fight would have been nothing in the end. Loki watched the four with a smile in his eyes and a joy in his chest he didn’t think would leave anytime soon.

It didn’t leave for a while. Every time he sat on the Allfather’s throne and caught a glimpse of his left hand, the joy and warmth consumed him. Whenever he met Tony for a date and the man’s finger brushed against his ring, he felt love singing through his veins. When they kissed and fucked with abandon in Tony’s L.A. hotel room, desperate for each other’s arms after almost a month of no communication, Loki knew he would never tire of the happiness that consumed him thank to this golden man. He loved him with all he had and that was enough to last forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont know how my update schedule for this is gonna go but again this was written before endgame so even if i post a chapter after endgame (which i dont expect to do but hey who knows) it is NOT edited to include endgame spoilers.
> 
> EDIT: I have watched endgame bc I got suspicious some of my theories were gonna be canon and I should tag appropriately!!


	2. loki in sakaar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki gets swept away into the Contest of Champions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter details the weeks loki was on sakaar without thor. fyi grandmaster is kinda different in this story than he is in ragnarok. he still has his humor here but he is not exactly the ragnarok version of the character right now so it's a little bit darker. also there's some graphic violence here, the only time the warning tag comes into play. this is the thor universe after all and lemme tell u in comics things get kinda gory but mcu doesn't have any r rated movies. anyway i wanted to bring some of that here too.

Work did make it harder for Loki and Tony to interact in person. Thor was starting to get suspicious of Odin, which meant Loki had to spend more time on the throne to combat the suspicions. He was attempting to research the ailment that besotted Odin down on Midgard, but the foreign unknown stone’s powers were much too strong for Loki to get away with being on Midgard long enough to help Odin. Tony was also extremely busy with his company and his new Iron Man technology, eager to return to the task once he found a clue in the Chitauri armors that could help them get the Avengers back together like planned.

Unfortunately, Thor’s suspicions brought him to Asgard after defeating Surtr and Loki’s cover was blown. Odin then passed away and made Thor mad at Loki as if the sorcerer hadn’t been trying to fix their father’s ailment. Odin actually thanked him for trying at least which Thor of course would ignore for the sake of passing blame on to Loki. “You killed him,” he hissed with thunder storming above and Loki groaned as he rubbed his hands down his face.

“Did you not hear a single word from that old man’s mouth? I never wanted to kill him and I never intended to, either. I was helping and trying to _heal_ him while you were parading your hammer about the Nine.” he snapped back. “If it weren’t for that stupid wizard of the bitchical arts and his stone, I would have been able to return to Midgard earlier and healed him enough to stay alive for another hundred years at the very least.”

Thor opened his mouth to reply but got sidetracked staring at Loki’s hands. He grabbed the sorcerer’s left one with shocked horror. “Is that a wedding band?”

Loki flushed and swiped his hand from his brothers with a huff. “And what if it is? I highly doubt you would care about who I’m engaged to anyway.”

“Actually, I do kinda care, Loki.” his blue eyes were soft with affection and the sudden switch from anger to kindness gave Loki whiplash. “You’re my brother and while we no longer see eye to eye, something as grand as a marriage proposal is something I do care about with you.”

Loki never got to tell Thor he was engaged to Tony Stark as their wayward sister introduced herself and destroyed Mjolnir with a clench of her fist. Panic consumed Loki as he realized her powers, felt her dark deadly magic slithering through the air. Hela was the goddess of death indeed and through conquering Asgard she could conquer every other realm in the Nine, Midgard included. It was a stupid decision in hindsight, but Loki called on the Bifrost to get back to Asgard. Hela of course followed and Loki found himself shoved out of the Bifrost ray and into the cosmos through another portal. Portals were bound to be Loki’s demise at this rate.

He woke up in a trash heap surrounded by strange humanoid beings and wondered if perhaps this is what Helheim has turned into while he was king. A few of the odd scavengers poked at him with sticks and when he flared his magic in retaliation, he was shocked unconscious on the spot. When he came to, Loki was surprisingly not dead and not in Helheim. The god carefully sat up, ignoring the throbbing headache settling behind his eyes, and took in his oddly colored surroundings.

This wasn’t a world he ever studied during his younger years, and if it was, then he was most certainly surprised at how much it had changed since then. The colors were vibrant and neon, shiny and dull at awfully intricate angles that made the headache worse. Loki closed his eyes and unconsciously brushed his fingers over the ring in a comforting gesture. If anything, he needed to find a way back to Asgard and stop Hela before she took over Asgard and eventually made her way to Midgard. Loki patted his leg in hopes of grabbing his cell phone but quickly found out that one, his phone was in his civvies that he had magicked away when Hela appeared and two, he was absolutely naked under the blankets piled atop him. With an undignified yelp, the god scrambled from the bed and wrapped sheets around his lower waist as he bolted toward the seemingly open door. Before he could run through it, he hit a invisible forcefield and was immediately electrocuted.

An angry growl leveled in his throat and he snapped his fingers to summon his full regalia and in turn have access to the full extent of his powers. Fingers tingling with the familiar buzz of mystical Aesir magics, Loki waved a hand in front of the doorway and with a grunt, shot pure gold at the force field. The force field broke under the force of his magic but it wasn’t enough time for Loki to actually escape. The barrier melted back together and _absorbed_ the energy found in Loki’s magic to make itself stronger. The god gaped and frustratingly reached out into the empty spaces between realms for a way to get out of this prison. When he tried to reach out, he found nothing but emptiness. None of his secret paths were there. It wasn’t as if the paths had been covered up or, as sometimes happened when intense magics were occurring in various realms, got warped and had to be remapped. They simply weren’t even there, like he was looking at a map for a city where none of those street names existed.

There was no way for Loki to escape this room but it was hardly the first prison he had ever been in. His own body was even a prison of sorts but he refused to break out that one as the prison of an Aesir form to hide his Jotun self was one of the last things keeping him sane. Eventually, Loki would be freed from this terrible interior design and returned to Asgard to find Thor and Hela. Mostly Hela, as Loki was still smarting from Thor’s insinuations about him killing Odin. He settled down on the bed but before he could begin to concoct an escape plan, the forcefield suddenly stopped humming and a man with silver hair and blue smears of paint on his face entered the room.

“Ah, you’re awake. You took your sweet time, too. Thought they killed you at first but thankfully you breathe through your nose and mouth like a typical Asgardian.”

The sorcerer scowled. “Who are you and why have you imprisoned me?”

“I’m what people here call the Grandmaster but you,” he leered at Loki and smirked to himself, “you can call me Grandmaster too but En Dwi Gast is probably what you know me as.”

“Why should I know you?”

The man gasped with an exaggerated hand to his chest. “They teach Groot classes and Klingon war tactics in Asgard but they don’t mention my own magical prowess? That’s such a shame. I’ll have to find Bor and tell him to step up his education game.”

“King Bor is dead, as is his son, Odin.” Loki crossed his arms. “How old are you to be able to even know Bor? He was long dead before I was conceived.”

En Dwi Gast smiled wryly. “Age is nothing but a number. Inconsequential to both you and I as we live much longer than most numbers can contain.”

“Asgardians are not _immortal_. We eventually succumb to old age ourselves.” 

“Bor’s son has certainly done well brainwashing a frost giant to believe he is biologically Asgardian.”

Loki summoned daggers with a speed unmatched and held both blades to the elder’s neck with a snarl. “I am not brainwashed in any manner. I know what brainwashing and loss of control feels like. I am of my own mind when I speak. Never accuse me of otherwise.”

“Ooh, feisty,” he purred with a wicked grin. Loki shivered but brought the daggers closer to the immortal Elder’s neck. His dark eyes caught the glimmer of metal on Loki’s hand and his eyes widened. “You are _engaged_? I only know Earth people to be medieval enough to still use rings for marriage. I mean, come on, necklaces and brands are so much better when you don’t have to worry about the metal interfering with hand magic. You must be so desperate to marry a mortal.” 

“You will cease talking about him,” spat Loki as his voice deepened with anger. “My personal business is none of yours. Now tell me, where am I and when can I leave?” 

“You’re on Sakaar but as for leaving,” he moved the blades of Loki’s daggers from his neck with careful fingers, “I can’t grant you a time for that.”

“What?”

“I have this little game I call the Contest of Champions,” En Dwi Gast started pacing the room, his yellow robes flowing behind him. “I gotta have some fun somehow while I’m on this planet so I made a little game for fellow wayward people who end up out here. Most of the time we get the galaxy’s trash but on rare occasions we get some serious champions. It’s been eons since I got a good fight.” He locked eyes with Loki across the room. “I think you’d make a good winning champion.” 

“I don’t fight for you.” 

“You won’t fight for me, you’ll fight for your life and your mortal man.” the Elder crossed the room and put gentle fingers under Loki’s chin as he looked down at him. His touch was cold yet inviting. “You are a very gorgeous prize and I’m real sad now that your ring didn’t come off when you fell here.”

“As if that would have stopped me from halting your advances.”

En Dwi Gast shrugged, his fingers inching across Loki’s face with a hum. “I’m convincing enough.” 

“Not enough for me.” 

“Eventually you would be convinced. Time works a little differently here. For all you know, thirty Earth years could have passed and he’s long dead.” Loki paled and tried to step back but he found himself slamming his back into the wall when he tried. “I mean, he’s not dead because it’s only been about a week on Earth and a few hours out here, unless your guy has a chronic illness and is expected to die in the next week.”

“I know you’re trying to get me to tell you who my heart belongs to. I refuse to tell you.”

The Elder laughed. “Oh no, I don’t really care about who it is. I just like seeing your reactions to me talking about him. It’s cute. You’re cute.” He stepped away from Loki and turned back to the doorway. “I’ll send in a few people to dress you up for a battle tonight. You’ll go against a few low level people to get the crowd riled up. Maybe in a few weeks, I’ll bump you up to the final boss but for now, I don’t want damaged goods.”

“You’ll find I’m long since damaged if that is the final straw that breaks your back.”

“Humor me, Laufeyson.” the man waved a passing hand with a smile. “We can be friends or enemies, it’s up to you.”

“Friends seems to include being bedmates if your attitude is anything to go on.”

Brown eyes turned to his with raised grey eyebrows. “Is that a proposition I hear? You are willing to be my bedmate to escape the battles?”

Loki hissed. “Never in your wildest dreams, Grandmaster. There are some prizes you will never have.” 

The silver haired man grinned and left with no other words. Loki presses a hand to his cheek where En Dwi Gast has placed his own hand and shivered at the cold contact. How did this Elder know he was a frost giant? That was a closely guarded secret only a handful of people knew. Did his Aesir glamour slip off while he was unconscious? Though if En Dwi Gast was truly an immortal Elder and knew about Bor, there was a high probability he knew Loki was a frost giant before even meeting Loki. He probably knew who Loki was engaged to as well, even if that secret was well kept between Loki, Tony, Rhodes, Happy, Potts, and Parker. 

A few minutes after En Dwi Gast's departure, some guards came in with new armor for Loki. It was all black and fit well on his body—he was confident the Elder would have made sure of that—but it was cold with magic that wasn’t his own. It felt wrong against his skin, oozing an invisible glaze that penetrated his pores and made him nauseous. It wasn’t a poison and the mysterious force didn’t touch his magic in any manner but it still wasn’t comfortable. More guards came and led Loki down the tower to a basement where he would be fitted with weapons. Loki wasn’t much of a weapons type of guy, if he had to use hand held weapons he prefers daggers, but he knew this would not help him against whatever champion En Dwi Gast has paired with him to fight. Given he hadn’t complied with the Elder's wishes, he figured he would be given tougher champions to fight before getting to the big guy.

Loki decided on a two handed sword. It was large enough to use with both hands, but he figured he could wield it with one and use his other hand for magical summoning if not just a shield. The god caught his reflection in the mirror and frowned at himself. His long hair was tied up in a messy bun, no surprise, but the green and gold war paint dressing his face made him look alien to himself. The additional padding on his shoulders and knees was foreign and the giant dwarven sword in his hands looked out of place to himself. Loki was probably a sight to contend with but he didn’t look himself.

He especially didn’t look like himself after a crazy old man took him aside and shaved hair off the right side of his head until he had a low buzz cut with curved paths like the magical ones he traversed engraved in the hair. The rest of his hair flowed down to his shoulders like usual but the lower half had been accidentally bleached during the old man’s bickering with a colleague. The colleague then decided to dye the offending blonde hair silver so Loki’s hair was a soft ombré from night black to royalty silver. It looked pretty good on him and the new style was definitely something Tony would salivate over if he were here. 

Loki barely had the time to assess his attire and new hair before he was tossed into the stadium. He stumbled over himself but managed to steady when he shoved his giant sword into the ground with a huff. He scuffed his combat boots against the dirt ground to test it’s stability and then looked up at the crowd that was packed full of screaming fans. He glowered at them and ripped his sword from the ground with a snarl in his throat. He would prove to En Dwi Gast that he was above his frost giant ways, that he was powerful and Asgardian and not weak for loving a mortal man.

His competition was a high Kree warrior who had been undefeated in his bracket for years. Loki smirked to himself and switched all weight of the sword to his left hand as he powered up an invisible magic shield in his right hand. Overhead speakers boomed to life and Loki over at the upper box to spot En Dwi Gast staring down at him with a smirk. Loki sneered and turned back to his opponent.

“Today we have a new potential champion joining us in our games,” the Elder started with laughter in his voice. “He’s got the power of magic on his side but can it help him against our favorite Kree warrior?”

Loki raised a curious eyebrow and then felt something buzz through his armor and cause his body to convulse. Fuck, he should have know the odd magic he felt wouldn’t necessarily harm _his_ own magic, but it would harm the magic Odin has glamoured onto him all those years ago. He stared at his blue embossed skin and fought the growing panic that settled in his chest. Loki couldn’t afford to have a panic attack during a battle, he could not afford to die here for En Dwi Gast's amusement. He tightened his grip on the sword and felt cold magic burst from his hands to cover the weapon in an icy frost. Loki had never tapped into his Jotun abilities and he would probably always have anxiety and utter disgust about the fact he had these powers, but for now he could push that aside to fight for the chance to get back to Asgard and Tony

“Are our champions ready?” the crowd cheered for them and the Grandmaster laughed. “Then let the games begin!” 

The Kree warrior immediately came charging at Loki and the god let him come close. He flexed his fingers against the chilled metal in hand and raised the sharp blade as his opponent grew closer. With a swing of the weapon, Loki cast a blizzard of ice and snow toward the Kree warrior, knocking him down with a cry. The god ran toward the Kree with his sword and shield raised, swinging again for the blow to be blocked and then a parry take its place. He blocked the incoming blow with his magic shield, wincing at the force of it, and then spun with his sword to blast another blizzard at the Kree warrior.

The Kree stumbled over ice blocks but kept his steady ground. Loki panted and swiped a stray hair lock from his face as they stood at a standstill. The god refocused his magical energy into his sword and smirked as the weapon grew sharp ice stalagmites on its blade. He adjusted his grip on the handle and charge at the Kree with a war cry. They exchanged swings at each other and Loki managed to scrape the Kree with his icicles before taking a blow to his side. He could feel his bottom rib crack from the force and he hissed as he stepped away wheezing. Enraged by the injury, Loki dissolved his shield and gripped the hilt of his ice sword with both hands, embedding more ice magics into the metal. It sang the song of his cooling blood, wrapped frost around Loki’s heart and squeezed it until snow dripped from his soul. The Kree warrior seemed panicked, eyes darting up to the box where En Dwi Gast stood watching, but Loki could care less at the moment. 

Loki, dressed in Sakaarian armor with skin as blue as the Jotun he was born as and a silver Midgardian ring on his finger that glinted under the harsh lights of the stadium, ran forth with an Asgardian war cry on his tongue and pure rage in his heart. He swung ahead and watched icy wind blast the Kree warrior into the sky. The god snapped his fingers and teleported right where the Kree was to land and swiped his sword through the warrior’s body with a shaky growl. The split body spurted warm blood and chunks of internal organs onto Loki’s skin and it sizzled against the cold as he panted and caught his breath. 

The crowd was oddly silent, most likely shocked at how Loki had sliced their previous champion in half like he was butter and his ice sword was a butter knife. Loki looked over to the box and raised his weapon up high with a smirk of success on his lips. En Dwi Gast glared down at him though the crowd cheered with joy at the violence. Loki basked in both as his Aesir glamour restored itself, wiping chunks of Kree off his blood slick armor with a savage smile on his lips. Loki was very well not Asgardian in blood but he was just as much a war god as any of them. His take on war was personal and more secretive but that did not mean he was opposed to it and did not find strength on the battlefield. The Grandmaster thought he could win Loki over during his time on Sakaar but oh, that foolish Elder would find himself incredible mistaken.

* * *

Loki was slammed into a wall almost immediately after the gory battle he had left limping and oddly sated. He was still caked in drying blood and reeked of sweat and charred flesh but he couldn't bother to care when seeing the angry glare in En Dwi Gast's colorful eyes.

"You think killing my champions will set you free," he hissed into Loki's face, "I feel it's important to let you know that's not how this works."

"I know you won't ever truly let me free even if I somehow escape from Sakaar," the god replied with an air of nonchalance. It seemed to grate at the Elder's nerves and he drank in that success. "It's better to play the game than to ignore it. You were foolish in thinking I could not be Asgardian despite my heritage. You were wrong."

The Grandmaster pressed a hand into Loki's injured side and the god cried out in pain. "Sorry," he said but he wasn't sorry at all. Loki wanted to spit in his face. "You'll go see a doctor and they'll patch you all up and then send you to my solar."

"I'm not your _whore_ ," the god snapped, shoving En Dwi Gast's hands from his body. "I ought to slit your throat right now for ever insinuating I would bed you."

"I never said we would fuck," En Dwi Gast's face screwed up with obvious faked disgust. "I'm not one to be a home wrecker but if you're really up for it, be my guest."

"Over my dead body."

He laughed. "Yes, I suppose so. You see, I want you in my quarters to discuss some plans. It has nothing to do with sex, trust me." Loki gave him a look. "I don't want your body right _now_ ; you just murdered one of my best low level champions. I want to strike a deal with you."

Loki smirked. "A deal? Have I intrigued you that much?"

The Elder waved a hand and left Loki without another word. Loki watched him and then let loose a heavy sigh, wincing when the deep breath shook his broken rib. The healers came by to patch him up and clean him, so by the time he got to En Dwi Gast's quarters, his ribs were bandaged and healing—said to be healed in full by the end of the week—and he was dressed in simple black and green leathers with accents of gold in the trims. En Dwi Gast didn't spare him a second glance as he finished his current task and when he looked over at Loki, he sighed heavily to himself.

"Look, here's the deal: I can't have you killing all my champions, god of ice."

"I'm a god of _mischief_."

"There was absolutely nothing mischievous about the way you murdered my Kree guy but, sure. God of mischief and ice." Loki gave him a look. "God of mischief then. The point is, you can't compete in the Contest of Champions anymore."

"Then I can go free," Loki started as he motioned to the door. "You have no reason to keep me here then if I'm not playing that battle game."

"About that…" En Dwi Gast clasped his hands together with a sly grin, "The people here really like you and if I let you go, the people who don't like the Contest are gonna come after you and kill you since you're now a club favorite. I don't want you to die, I'm sure you don't wanna die, so it'd be best if you stay here in the tower with me."

Loki scoffed. "I'm going to leave and return to Midgard whether you like it or not."

"You're gutsy. I like that." the Elder clapped his hands twice and two guards waltzed into the room with a medium sized golden box. They left as quickly as they could and En Dwi Gast opened the box with a grin. "Now, I understand you claim yourself to be full a bunch of tricks and deceit which is admittedly refreshing after these past thousand or so years. I'm gonna do something no one should do when dealing with a trickster. I'm going to trust you."

Green eyes narrowed dangerously at the Grandmaster. "Not even my fiancee trusted me immediately and he harbored a bit of a crush for years. You're making a fool of yourself, En Dwi Gast."

"I don't think so. You see, I have something that will let me know I can trust you." he pulled out a key and marveled at its shiny surface. With a low grumble, he snapped the key in half and then crumbled it in his hands. The golden metal flakes softened in his touch until it congealed into a thin disk the size of his palm. "This chip here has the access codes for _all_ of my ships on this planet. Every single code right in the palm of my hand. You don't even need to insert the chip anywhere; touch it and you'll know the info it carries."

"What's the catch? What makes you believe I won't kidnap one of the ships for myself and leave this place?"

"I'm offering you comfort here am I not? You don't have to battle any champions, you don't have to go back to Asgard and face those xenophobic assholes who probably hate you for being, you know, a frost giant." Loki stiffened and the elder smiled to himself. "You can stay here with a bunch of people who could give two shits about you being an Asgardian-raised frost giant runt engaged to mortal. You don't need to be known by anyone; you can slip in with the aristocrats and play petty mystery games with them for the rest of time."

"I don't have the rest of time on my side," he sibilated angrily. "I have a life to get back to. I cannot waste my time here with the likes of you. The universe is _ending_ , Grandmaster. That includes Sakaar. If you keep me here, who knows what will happen."

"I'm not keeping you here. I already told you that you are free to go." The Elder pressed the chip to Loki's hand before the god could pull away. He cried out from the bulk of the load of information spearing itself in his brain. His hands shook as he wormed his way out of En Dwi Gast's grip. "See? Now you can go whenever you'd like. My domain is your domain. Understand this though: you'll be giving up a life of certainty by leaving."

"You underestimate the power of a person who wishes to reunite with their loved one."

"I understand that person would do any and give up _everything_ to do so. Now, Loki," he pressed a hand to the god's cheek with a coy smile, "what would you give up to see dear Tony Stark again?"

Loki slapped the hand off his face and backed himself up against the wall, summoning daggers into his hands as he took up a fighting stance. "Don't you dare mention him to me, Immortal."

"You keep calling me immortal like you aren't yourself." En Dwi Gast rolled his eyes and plopped onto his bed with tired eyes. "Frost giants can only be killed by Asgardians or someone even more powerful than them, else you're almost as immortal as me. Frost giants were here in this world before Asgardians and Earth mortals. I remember their conception, I remember the great battle on Earth that Asgard intervened in and then how you were birthed during that war. I remember it all."

Loki shook with pure rage. "I don't care if I am near immortal or not, you will not bring Stark into our conversations ever again."

"Alright, alright. No more Stark talk, though it doesn't do him any harm to talk about him. I'm sure he's used to being the main topic of conversation. You still didn't answer my question, though, and I would hate for it to be unanswered."

The god fought to calm himself as he gathered his thoughts. He would give up practically _anything_ right now to make sure Tony was safe. En Dwi Gast said time works differently here, but the exact time difference was never explicit though it didn't seem to be drastic enough for years to pass in only a day. Still, for all Loki knew Hela could have long since captured Asgard and instated her reign on Earth. He knew that if she arrived on Earth, Tony would find out through her that Loki was presumed dead. Loki wasn't sure if Tony would believe her, but it would also mean that they had failed in their mission to stop the universe from ending.

If Hela didn't have control of Asgard at the moment, returning alone with no allies and no idea on how to defeat her would only ensure Loki's death and her success. He had to make sure she thought he was dead in order to gather up the resources and support necessary to eventually leave and surprise her by defeating her. For all Loki knew, Thor was dead and while he was still upset at the fool for his comments, he had to accept the fact that he was alone on Sakkar. All he had was himself against her and he would need an army to fight her madness. He hoped he could use his cunning wit and silver tongue to manipulate some lowly champions into following him as an army.

The god vanished his daggers away and looked to the side with a sour lour on his lips. "I will stay here and mingle with the aristocrats as you so phrased it."

En Dwi Gast's smile sparkled under the starlit lights. "That's absolutely wonderful! I'll have some guards set up your new quarters and introduce you to the rooms about the tower. Take your time exploring; you might find yourself here a while."

"Perhaps I may."

Loki was led out the room by pasty looking guards wielding those electrocution sticks they had shocked him with when he first arrived on this planet. The sorcerer closed his eyes for a quick second and took a moment to put his faith in Tony to survive Hela's attack if this situation ever came down to it. He was confident in his ability to get a gaggle of idiots prancing about his words but he knew nothing about the extent of Hela's powers. Who knew if his army would be enough. An army wasn't enough against the Avengers and while he had lost on purpose to free his mind form the tenets of Thanos and the Other, he knew that if he had actually put in his all, he still would have lost to some capacity. A complete failure of losing both stones probably would not have happened but he still would not have come out on top, just like Tony had stated all those years ago.

The sorcerer clenched his fists together at the thought of Tony. He missed him terribly; his heart almost hurt from thinking about how there was a slim chance they would never meet again. Loki refused to let himself believe they would never cross paths again. They had worked so hard to find the proof necessary for the World Council, he could not give up on their work and their commitment. He kissed the ring on his finger and let the guards take him to his new quarters. He memorized the intricacies of the design in the room, mentally mapped out escape routes and places he could hopefully store weapons in the case he needed them after gathering his army. He was taken to dinner and then told to rest in his quarters as not to aggravate his rib injury. Loki could have cared less about the injury to be honest, he wanted to spend more time getting to know the ins and outs of the tower for his slowly formulating plan.

Back in his room he attempted to mend his injury but his own magic was still in pain from when that black armor En Dwi Gast gave him ripped off his glamour. It clashed with the recently awakened frost magic in his blood and burn his wounds like a searing fire. He would have continued if the pain hadn't brought him seconds from passing out. Loki couldn't afford to knock out when he still didn't know how time passed between Sakaar, Asgard, and Midgard. The injury was better healed and it at least only meant he had to stay bedridden for two days rather than the week the healers originally estimated.

Loki poured himself a cup of beer and downed it in a few gulps, shuddering as the potent alcohol made his heart sing. It wasn't a typical Asgardian brew nor was it anything he had tried on Midgard. It was spicy with violence and sweet with success, tainted with regrets and sorrows. The beer sat in his belly with a fiery warmth that threatened to consume him but the ice in his blood chilled it to a mellow brew. Loki decided he liked it enough to continue drinking; it didn't get him drunk that he could tell and the taste was tolerable enough to end the day. After a warm shower, he wrapped himself up in his sleeping robes and cast little enchantments on the windows and doors to alert him to intruders and he built space pockets in various corners to store whatever he could find. The sorcerer tried to reach out for those familiar magic paths once more and was again met with silence.

Uncharted space was exciting for Loki when he was a young mage. It meant he could create new magical paths and taste new magic pockets in the universe that the Bifrost could not reach. These secret paths ended up being the only reason why Thor started to trust him

again when dealing with Malekith and the Aether, and Loki found a weird sense of comfort in knowing he was needed by Asgardians when it came to traveling the Nine. While being unable to find those paths did excite the young man in Loki, the desperate sorcerer in him who yearned to be reunited with his family—and at the thought of family, Tony and Peter Parker came to mind—was unsettled by this fact. He was in a section of uncharted space and that did not bode well for him even if he managed to escape and return to space, how would he know where to go? En Dwi Gast did know about Asgard and the Nine realms but did his ships know? Would they be able to take Loki back home?

The god collapsed onto his bed with a sigh, silver tipped hair splayed out on the blankets beneath him. He ran a hand through the slightly damp curls and thought about how Tony loved playing with his hair when they cuddled in his bed on the nights Loki could stay over. Loki held up his left hand over his face and sighed as the silver ring twinkled under dimmed lights. He needed to figure out sooner than later if the ships in En Dwi Gast's fleet had star maps from outside the current solar system. He realized that before he could gather an army he needed to find a ship that allowed him to travel out of the system and into space that Loki could traverse. Granted, the star maps could possibly be transferred from ship to ship but he wasn't sure if the larger ships were built for outer space travel. Certain ships could crumble under the pressure caused by obdurate magics that refused to obey any sorcerer or mages' commands. Loki was a self-made master of taming those magics so he was sure he could get the ship through the storm, it was only a matter of the ship _surviving_ the process.

This meant Loki had to search for a large ship with the proper warp engines and stamina, along with magic reflecting shields and the ability to transfer map data. Loki wished he could say it was an easy task, but with all the ship data floating about his head thanks to the Grandmaster stuffing it inside his brain, he found it hard to pinpoint his thoughts on a particular ship. He would most likely have to visit the fleet dock and run through the specks manually to compare. The access codes would definitely help him enter the ships to check out their sizes. En Dwi Gast would probably get an alert to Loki using the access codes, but he could care less at this point. The Elder knew as well as he did that Loki _was_ going to leave at some point. Loki planned on it being sooner than later, En Dwi Gast probably planned on it being later leaning toward never. Even if Loki wasn't able to be a champion in the Contest anymore, he was indeed popular with the crowd and if frost giants really didn't die--or at least stay dead--unless they were killed by Asgardians or beings stronger than Asgardians, then Loki would be alive for as long as En Dwi Gast wanted him. The sooner later came, the sooner En Dwi Gast would have Loki for himself.

Loki rolled over onto his side and clutched his left fist with his other hand and held it to his chest. He would find a way out of this prison and return to Tony before it was too late. No one ever kept Loki in a cell: either they needed him so they let him loose or he broke out. It was that simple. The sorcerer checked in on all his magic pockets and the lock on his door before letting exhaustion and subtle pain lull him to sleep. He dreamt about Tony's kisses and laughter, he imagined himself wrapped up in those strong wielder's arms and breathing in the tangy scent of his lover. When he woke up to the soul-crushing disappointment brought by snuggling a pillow instead of Tony, Loki threw the cushion to the wall but shortly regretted his minor lash out as his side screeched in throbbing pain. He grabbed at his ribs with a sharp hiss and took a few minutes to mend whatever muscle damage he had inflicted on himself by throwing the pillow. The break in full was healing at a faster rate than even he expected, but the bones were still brittle at the reset point and his magic still weeped from the poison that armor left behind and the ice magic he had used against the Kree warrior.

Green eyes scanned the room with caution, checking to make sure no alterations had occurred while he was asleep. His wards should alert him to any intrusion but Sakaarian magic was new to him and there may be holes in the Asgardian magic Loki trained in that this new type of magic could slip through. If he and En Dwi Gast had met under better circumstances, perhaps he would have spent more time chatting about how Elder magics worked instead of frantically working on a plan to break out. Actually, Loki thought as he grabbed a towel and made his way to the bathroom to wash off the sweat and grit from a heavy sleep, if he wasn't in love with a mortal man whose land was most often a target for world domination schemes, he would have gladly befriended the Grandmaster. Probably would have slept with him too; it wasn't as if he was a bad looking guy persay. Loki simply wasn't interested because he had a much better looking guy he had dedicated a few decades to being with waiting for him. He didn't have the time to be playing nice, well, at least not _that_ nice. Sure, he was harsh and angry yesterday but today, he needed to be kinder and more adjusted to secure En Dwi Gast's trust for sure. Giving Loki the access codes wasn't an act of trust, it was a test. For En Dwi Gast to completely trust him, Loki had to seem like he wasn't planning to ever leave.

Loki sighed as steaming hot droplets splashed against his reddening skin. The shower water was laced with minerals and piquant soaps, lathering the sorcerer in cool but refreshing suds that he scrubbed into his skin. He thought back to one shower with Tony where they had soaped each other up after a long day at work. Tony got horny, no surprise there, but he stupidly tried to blow Loki when the god's dick was soaped up and he had sputtered around Loki's dick with a bunch of whines about how Loki should have rinsed his dick off before letting Tony climb to his knees. Loki had merely told him the soap would combat the dirty moans he was bound to release once the sorcerer started fucking into his mouth. Loki started to stroke himself to the memory, how Tony's brown eyes were soft yet firm with determination once he had rinsed Loki off. How his tongue pressed up against Loki's shaft with hard needy licks and wet sultry kisses. His hair was wet and plastered to his face as the water careened over his shoulders but he didn't care as he closed his eyes and moaned around the cock in his mouth. Loki loved his moans, he loved how enthusiastic the man was about sucking dick. It was always exciting when Tony refused to let Loki touch him until he had his mouth wrapped around the god's shaft and was sucking like if he didn't make Loki come in the next five minutes he was gonna die.

One time Tony set a timer to see how little time it could take for him to get Loki off without a single hand on himself and he went seven minutes before he was rutting against the bed and crying for Loki to grab his hair and _fuck my mouth, please; I'm fucking begging, I don't care about the timer just do it_ . Loki had done so as asked, he could rarely deny Tony anything unless their little games called for him to, and Tony had come all over the sheets before Loki blew his load. With a groan at that particular memory, Loki tugged on his dick and leaned his head back against the stream of fresh water that was washing away the soapy suds. He panted to himself and fucked up into his fist, imagining it was Tony's fist hold him, Tony's wet mouth drenching his shaft with slick saliva. He thought about Tony's messy handjobs in the back seat of his car whenever he picked up Loki from the elder's home and drove him off somewhere secluded. He thought about the first time Tony whispered _I love you_ during sex, how he had gasped those three precious words into Loki's sweaty skin and clung onto the god like a lifeline, desperate for release as he shuddered under the force of Loki's hectic thrusts.

Loki came with a cry, legs shaking as white spurted from his cock and splattered the shower wall. It washed away with the water and after a moment of recuperation, Loki washed off what little had splattered his hand and dripped down his shaft as well. He cleaned up fully and stepped from the bathroom with a towel around his waist and a spare one drying his hair. He usually used magic to dry his hair but he was still cautious about using it on himself until he could figure out exactly how that Elder's magic worked and why it affected his body the way it did. Loki combed through the wet strands with a low hum and dressed in his green and black Sakaarian clothing with a heavy sigh. He missed his Asgardian armor tenfold now. He also missed Tony's too-big sweatshirts that he claimed he didn't like seeing Loki in but simultaneously kept hinting at Loki to wear them, especially during the winter when they stayed inside during snow days.

Once Loki finished readying himself for the day, guards came to escort him for a solo breakfast with En Dwi Gast. The timing the guards had when coming to his room made Loki feel suspicious about the Grandmaster spying on him, and he was sure to bring that up during their breakfast.

"I don't _spy_ ," the Elder laughed as he peeled the shell off a boiled egg. "I have no need to check in on what you're doing when I have more important tasks at hand." He waved over a woman with a lax hand. "The melty stick is still working, right? I think we have some people I have to, you know, melt away later in the day."

"Of course," she replied monotonously, her dark eyes trained on Loki as if she wanted to use the melty stick on him.

En Dwi Gast sent her away and then returned to his breakfast with a cheerful smile. "Anyway, I hope you like the tour I've arranged for you today. You'll meet some great donors that really liked the whole blue skin act you put on last night."

"I did not put on an act," replied Loki. "You manipulated the magic creating the glamour and forced my true skin from the confines of the spell. I would hardly say that is something out of a movie."

"Asgard has movies now? Wow, impressive."

"I'm planning to marry a mortal; I know what a movie is." the sorcerer stabbed his scrambled eggs with a scowl before sending En Dwi Gast a glare. "Enough talk of that; why did you want to dine solo with me this morning?"

"I can't invite my favorite guest to have dinner on his first day?"

"Not without your 'favorite' guest being suspicious of your intentions."

The Elder laughed heartily. "To be honest, I like eye candy while I'm eating a meal. It balances sweetness with the healthy stuff on my plate. Plus," he waved his fork around as he chewed on a bacon slice (and Loki really wondered what the Grandmaster considered healthy if bacon, eggs, hash browns with gravy, and pancakes coated in syrup constituted being healthy), "I wanted to talk to you about sitting up in the box with me for some Contest arena games. You're Asgardian in culture and Jotun in blood and that combination is what I like to call 'ultimate savagery'. I know you're totally interested in watching violent blood bath games." Loki frowned. "You can't even deny it. It's in your nature to be attuned to war. You love bathing in your enemy's blood and celebrating torn flesh and marred limbs by drinking mead and ale until you're vomiting on corpses with your friends. I know how Asgardians work."

Loki laughed as he sipped his tea. "You are not incorrect about Asgardians but such uncivil forms of celebration are from before my time. Still, I do find joy in war and satisfaction in a battle well won. I would not mind watching a few arena contests for entertainment while you hold me captive here."

"Oh no, no. You're not captive here; you're a welcome _guest_ , Loki. Guests can leave at any time. Get the terms right." En Dwi Gast chugged a cup a coffee and sighed with relief. "I have some important matters to attend to now, but do come by the arena in five hours. We're having a low level Contest but I think the gore will be pretty vitriolic given the two fighters are sworn enemies or something like that."

Loki watched the Elder as he cleaned up his plates and stood from the table with a bow. The sorcerer picked at his own food and questioned attending the battle tonight. He wasn't opposed to violence in any manner but being a spectator was completely different from engaging in the battle first hand. Loki had agreed mostly to appease the Grandmaster and get a chance to talk with him more and hopefully get secrets on Sakaar and the magic he was using. While En Dwi Gast's descriptions of Asgardian war fanfare were not far from the mark, it wasn't a form of celebration Loki particularly agreed with. It was another reason he was found to be a social outcast among Asgardians. Jotuns were even worse with their battle celebration antics; according to legend, they ate their corpses like barbaric brutes and engaged in necrophilia and violent vore like animals. It sickened Loki to think the Grandmaster thought he was a savage mixture of the two most vicious war-prone beings in the Nine. He wanted to prove the Elder wrong by being civil during a Contest. Perhaps En Dwi Gast would trust Loki more if he knew Loki wasn't going to lose his cool watching people murder each other.

Before then though, Loki had five hours to himself that he could use to explore the tower. Once he finished his food, the god left the room to explore the nearest hallways and rooms. Most of the rooms were empty bedrooms with only bare necessities like a bed, lamp, and dresser. He opened one room and found a woman laying on the bed curling her fingers in her bedmate's long hair as said bedmate sensually moaned between her legs. Loki quickly came to the conclusion that the rooms on this floor were En Dwi Gast's pleasure rooms. He coughed an apology for interrupting the two ladies though neither seemed to be disturbed by his intrusion. He then shuddered to himself when he thought back to being in the Grandmaster's bedroom and how the guy wanted Loki there for himself before he admitted Loki wasn't going to budge on that matter. Loki made his way downstairs and discovered this floor to full of closets for the Elder's clothes. It ranged from ancient Asgardian type armor from the dawn of time to 1980's Midgardian flare, which is what Sakaar seemed to be modeled after music wise at least. The electronica synth-based music that filtered through the rooms definitely cemented the idea that Sakaar was stuck in a fantasy 80’s mood merged with magic and modern 21st century tech people in the 80’s couldn’t possibly have dreamt of ever being real.

Loki soon found himself humming along to the melodies as he walked bustling halls and made nice with Sakaarian aristocracy and learned how the betting games worked. He didn't have any currency to join in on the betting brackets but many women found him alluring enough to spare him some credits to bet on the arena Contest tonight. He learned from a purple-skinned alien that xir favorite, a stray Xandarian who found themselves stranded on Sakaar after a ship battle with Kree army ships, was in the run tonight against a Dark Elf. Loki inwardly scowled at that news but smiled at xir enthusiastic explanation for why xe thought the Xandarian was going to defeat the elf once and for all. Contests that ended in actual defeat through death happened once every full moon, an estimate of around 70 Sakaarian days, and lasted for up to three Sakaarian weeks, each week being five and a half sunrises. Sunset on the six day was the start of new week--12 am midnight--so morning and evening were flipped around and sometimes this lead to multiple death battles in a week. Loki was apparently in for a treat having come at a time when the death battles were in peak season. He laughed to himself at the fact the Grandmaster had spared him from participating in this particular season. If so, then there must be a creature strong enough to kill Loki in the bracket. How such a being came to live on Sakaar would be a mystery for another time.

The sorcerer sat and dined for lunch with a trio who kept trying to invite him back upstairs for some ‘private chatting’. The ring on his finger and the promise he had kept by wearing it seemed to mean nothing down here. Nothing from any of these people's previous lives mattered once they were on Sakaar. Loki wasn't sure if they simply had been locked on this planet for so long they forgot their past obligations, if they knew they couldn't escape without access to ships they couldn't have so they only worried about the present, or if their past had been wiped clean from their memory. Knowing En Dwi Gast was an Elder, Loki wouldn't put the latter thought past the man. Brainwashing people to stay on Sakaar to provide money and emotional support for his murder-promoting Contest seemed like the perfect way to spend eternity if the livelihood of individual people was as insignificant as it typically was for beings who lived since the birth of the universe.

Loki did manage to get a good look at the brackets for this season and he was shocked to see who the current grand Champion was. He had wondered for a while where the dear green doctor had disappeared off to and lo and behold he would be stranded on Sakaar to be used as nothing but a piece in the Elder's violent games. Loki shuddered as he remembered getting pummeled into the floor years back by that Hulk beast. He sighed to himself and wondered if anyone else had suffered such a fate in the years Banner had been fighting in Sakaar. The answer was probably a yes but knowing Loki was one of few impervious to death by Hulk smashing, he figured anyone else who had been pitted against the green beast probably suffered a much worse and a much more bloodied fate. According to the brackets, Hulk would be battling in the arena again in two weeks time. Loki certainly wasn't planning to spend two weeks here if he could help it, but if he could get En Dwi Gast to trust him enough to talk to Hulk even though last they met was not on good terms, maybe he could convince Hulk that the Grandmaster himself was the enemy not Loki and help him escape.

Hulk being the grand Champion would make it more difficult to escape as everyone knew Hulk and En Dwi Gast would most certainly not take Hulk leaving kindly but it would be worth a shot. By getting closer to En Dwi Gast under the guise of getting to Hulk, there was a chance Loki could figure out some other insightful information to make his escape faster. As he accepted a credit transfer from an ornately dressed man with horns, Loki looked up to the balcony on the floor above and locked eyes with the Grandmaster himself. They exchanged small smirks, one full of intimate knowledge and the other full of coy confrontation, but En Dwi Gast was gone with a swish of his golden cape before Loki could morph his smirk into something a little more hostile. When he turned back to the guests he was entertaining, the woman with silver orbs for her eyes gasped with a webbed hand to her face.

"He gave you The Look," she whispered, nudging her seatmate with a low giggle. "Oh, I've longed to receive that Look myself."

Loki's brow furrowed with half-faked confusion. "What does the look mean? I hadn't realized it was anything different than what he's sent me before."

"It's interest," her seatmate purred in answer, "but not just any causal passing interest. You've caught his eye and he's never gonna let you go if he can help it."

 _That is literally the exact opposite of what I want._ "How do you even know that's what the look entails? Surely a simple interest doesn't lead to wanting ownership."

Silver eyes shrugged. "It's in the way he carries himself like he knows all, like he knows he will get what he wants." Her webbed fingers played with the holographic bracket cards glowing on the table between them. "It's sensual and greedy in all the right ways. I've seen people who get that look come back from a trip in his orgy ship glowing about the treatment they receive. Overabundance of credits in their account, special meals in the box during Contest battles, and best of all, no death from the Melting Stick."

Loki spared a glance up at the balcony only to look back at his tablemates when he spotted a crowd looking down at him with murmured whispers. "So he just marked me in front of everyone as the next person to join his little sex party?"

"Yes, probably so you won't refuse him," the cat humanoid rolls it's eyes and pawed at the holographs to bring data cards for the next bracket. "Or if you do deny him he'll make an example of you for everyone to not do so later."

Fury consumed Loki and he left with a curt goodbye before storming his way upstairs to En Dwi Gast's room. He didn't bother knocking as he blasted the door open and threw two daggers toward the Elder to pin his stupid cape to the nearest wall. The man didn't even bother to look surprised as he simply lifted his tea cup to his pursed lips and made a humored sound in the back of his throat. Loki stomped up to him and slammed his arm into the Grandmaster's neck with a deep snarl. "You said you weren't interested in me like _that_."

"Meow," En Dwi Gast purred, wiggling his eyebrows before sipping his tea once more. Loki pressed against his throat harder and grinned when the Elder coughed. "This feels like you're trying to choke me or something. Try a little harder if you actually want to do some damage."

"Explain why you just claimed me in front of the entire lobby," he snapped instead. "I could care less about doing damage to your body at the moment. You are attempting to inflict damage on my reputation with the people."

"You are trying to gather intel on how the Contest works to get close to my Champions. You're not subtle, Laufeyson." He lowered his cup and stared at Loki with hooded eyes. "I'm a simple guy running a simple game: I find Champions and I let them fight it out in an arena. Some Sakaarians like to bet on them, others like to find the Champions _for_ me. Everyone makes some money and on occasion I'll bring a few bet makers on my ships for some fun time. That's all."

"Then why I am here? I am neither a Champion nor a Sakaarian who wishes to bet or find new slaves for you."

"Whoa, whoa, we don't use the s-word here."

Loki scoffed and loosened his choke on the Elder. "What is your game with me?"

"You're an Asgardian frost giant mage with ties to Earth and you think you're part of a simple betting game?" En Dwi Gast laughed and reached back to pull out the daggers that pinned him to the wall. "If I can't have you, then no one can. That's not a game though; it's a promise."

"Is that how you've trapped all these people on Sakaar? Keeping them on this wasteland because they have nowhere else to go in your mind and thus they are yours to rule? You've erased their pasts literally and figuratively until they decided to play into your simple game and keep giving you monetary credits you don't even need."

En Dwi Gast gave Loki a pointed look. "I created this planet to get away from the quandary we call this messed-up universe. Some people came here on their own though it was accidental. I wanted a few friends and started a shipyard in the process." He shrugged and drank more tea. "It's not impossible to leave, you just need a ship and you need to get through the right portal." Long fingers danced on the rip of the white porcelain tea cup. "People stay because they want to forget their past. Who am I to deny them that chance to move on?"

In another time perhaps those words would have resonated with Loki and he would have found reason to stay on Sakaar. He had been deemed Grandmaster's favorite, seen as a valuable asset and a popular Champion even though he had been pulled from the Contest. Sakaarians liked him from what he could tell and they would certainly like him more if he gave into what En Dwi Gast offered. It wasn't as if Loki would have been an outcast here like he often was on Asgard. He could escape his past and start anew on this planet hidden from the rest of the universe. No, not just the rest of the universe: hidden from Thanos. Thanos who didn't have the space stone because Loki made sure Asgard took it, Thanos who didn't have the reality stone because Loki made sure the Collector had it hidden on Knowhere, Thanos who didn't have the soul stone because Loki lost it on Midgard. Thanos who was going to absolutely _murder_ Loki the next time he saw him, which would hopefully be never if Loki could help it.

But this was not that other time. This was now where Loki had little reason to stay on Sakaar. This was a time when Loki needed to return to Asgard and fight Hela certainly not for Asgard's sake but for Midgard's sake as he knew if Asgard fell under her, the rest of the realms would come next. He could not cower and hide from his past like Sakaarians could. He had a mission to complete and a promise to keep.

Loki's fists clenched with pent-up aggression and he could feel the metal of the engagement ring pressing into his skin. "I will not forget my past."

"Never asked _you_ to."

"But you would like it if I did."

En Dwi Gast smiled and leaned forward, a gust of air washing over Loki's ear as he sighed. "Oh, you know I would. But I'm not the type to force these things. See," he pulled away and turned around to stroll to his window, "I've lived billions of spacetime years. Trillions of years on Sakaar. I have a spitload of patience and a lot of time on my hands. Funny thing, as long as you're here, so do you."

"There's a Champion that could kill me," started Loki with crossed arms, "and it's not in the bracket yet, not for this season, but if I were in the Contest and won this season against the Hulk then I would eventually face that beast and it will ruin the game you've got going. Letting your precious Champion loose certainly isn't going to help anyone."

The Elder stood in silence for a moment long enough for Loki to believe the silence was an invitation to leave. "The only Champion I have that could beat you is myself."

Loki grinned and stepped toward En Dwi Gast to stand beside him at the window. He took the old man's hand in his and his grin grew wider as blue-gray eyes turned to him with pure anger. "You don't even know if you _could_ beat me." Loki reached his left hand up to gently cup the Elder's face. En Dwi Gast frowned as the sorcerer pressed the metal ring against his warm skin. Loki brushed his thumb over those blue painted lips and cocked his head to the side. "You're scared of me. That's why you want to try so hard to keep me here under your power. If you can't keep an eye on me, you know your existence will come to an end very soon."

En Dwi Gast flicked out his tongue against Loki's thumb but Loki didn't pull away. They maintained eye contact for a second too long and the Grandmaster pulled away from Loki's touch with a growl. "Get out my quarters, Laufeyson."

Giddy with power and drunk on knowing this powerful secret, Loki laughed. "I think I should remind you that I am neither Laufyseon nor am I truly Asgardian. I am simply Loki." He paused at the door and turned back with a shake of his head. "I'm assuming your invitation to watch the Contest battle tonight in the box is still open?"

The Elder turned his head to the side, not fully turning to look at Loki, but giving him enough acknowledgment without saying no. Satisfied by this conversation, Loki left with a low hum and didn't dispel any the rumors that started to ruffle the lobby's feathers. It would be in his favor for people to think he was easy enough to be sleeping with the Grandmaster. When the truth would eventually come crashing down, it would weaken En Dwi Gast's hold on Sakaar and to see that Elder lose the last remain bit of power he had since the creation of the universe would give Loki joy like no other. Until then, Loki would settle in with the crowd and gather his army and the ships he needed to get out and hopefully find Thor if he wasn't dead already though without his hammer Thor would be a lot less powerful.

The Contest battle was quaint and Loki wasn't very amused by all the fanfare about it. En Dwi Gast was pretty silent, both still angry at Loki and too entranced by the lead up to the battle. Loki hadn't bet on any party yet though he was intrigued by the Dark Elf and more than willing to see that creature die. He didn't know enough about Xandar and it's people to have much of an opinion about what could happen for that being. A waitress offered Loki a beer and he took it with a sip and a warm thank you, eyes dancing as he turned to watch the Immortal beside him vibrating with dissatisfaction. Oh, he had really gotten under the Grandmaster's skin by confirming that he could probably kill the Immortal if things came down to it. Loki had no idea how he could make it happen but just a few more days near the man could probably give him the answer.

Loki turned back out to the arena and snorted into his cup as the Dark Elf tried to rally the crowd on his side with brute shouts and cheers. The Xandar guard flexed their dual sided saber with a grin and raised the weapon above their head with an indecipherable yell. The crowd most definitely had a favorite and the jealousy that stormed the Dark Elf's face was enough for Loki to sleep well in the night. He would never forgive those creatures for murdering his mother and half-destroying Asgard. Loki spent so much time rebuilding the destruction the Dark Elves left behind, time he could have spent with Tony working out how to assemble the Avengers.

The god picked up a clump of grapes from the food-filled table in front of them and popped a grape into his mouth with a low hum as the announcers began to explain the rules. Loki leaned back and snacked on the grapes in hand as the battle began. The Dark Elf was speedy on his legs but most of their powers came in shadows, which were not applicable under the bright lights of the arena. The Xandar guard was speedy with their saber but still unused to the armor they wore and was clunky with their movements. The dull ring of metal against metal amplified hundred fold rang through the stadium with every blow. The guard managed to nick the Elf in the arm, dark blood dripping from the wound. Loki licked his lips and polished off his beer, holding out the cup for a refill.

"Exciting, isn't it," started En Dwi as the Elf attacked the Xandar guard with more fervor and intensity. "The battle really only starts after the first bit of blood is drawn."

"Is that so," quirked Loki as he popped another grape in his mouth and shot the Immortal a too calm look. "I'll have to keep that in mind then."

With his cup refilled and a soothing warmth filling his belly, Loki turned back to the battle just in time for the Dark Elf to pierce through the folds of Xandarian armor and draw deep red blood from the guard's body. The Elf ripped out a scream from the Xandarian's mouth as his blade pulled up into wet flesh and drenched the sharp blade with blood. Loki's green eyes followed the dripping mess and he chuckled to himself with a pleasant sigh. The Xandar guard twisted away from the blade and pressed a hand to their wound, gasping as red leaked between their fingers and coated the shiny armor with thick dull liquid. Tightening their grip on the saber, the guard swung twice to get the Dark Elf out of swinging range and then rushed forward with a pained cry to slice the blade through soft warm neck flesh.

Black poured from the wound and the Dark Elf dropped his sword to bring red splattered hands to his injured neck. His fingers were soaked in his own ichor, the wet squelch of choking on blood filling the stadium speakers. He wheezed and fell to his knees, more black spilling from the enlarged gash in his throat onto his shaking fingers.  The guard stood over him panting with an equally drenched hand against the bleeding wound in their side. The Dark Elf coughed up blood with hoarse wheezes and eventually collapsed onto the ground with one final spasm. Black puddled on the dirt and stained the ground with gore. Loki took a large gulp and ate a few more grapes before turning to the Grandmaster with a warm grin.

"You were betting on the Dark Elf, weren't you?" he hummed to himself as he picked up his last grape and rubbed it between his fingers. "They are quite cunning creatures but they are called dark elves for a _reason_ , that reason not just being them being evil creatures." Loki downed the rest of his beer and crossed his legs as he licked his lips. "They can't see as well in bright light and the Xandarian merely move him around until the stadium lights were shining in his eyes and he couldn't see the blade before he felt it slicing him open."

En Dwi Gast shook his head with a huff. "I'm guessing you've fought a few Dark Elves in your time."

"More than enough." he shrugged. "That's why I bet on the Xandar guard."

"I bet on no one this round. It's a low level Contest for the people's gambling entertainment not for mine. Glad you earned some money for your pockets though." the elder man stood from the couch with a yawn. "I'm beat; that was a pretty boring Contest. Most will be like that until we get to Hulk. Speaking of," he gave Loki a contemplative look, "how do you know who the Hulk is and how did you know he wasn't the Champion who could kill you?"

"We met under less desirable circumstances once before."

En Dwi Gast laughed. "Do enjoy your night, Loki. Buy yourself some booze to celebrate your winning bet and I'll see you tomorrow."

When tomorrow came, Loki was sat in the lobby most of the day sharing his adventures about the realms he had traveled over the years. Sakaarians were surprised he knew the Dark Elf wasn't going to win the battle and eager to hear his tales of planets and realms they either didn't know existed or had forgot were a thing. In the few hours before that night's Contest, Loki explored the shipyard and analyzed the semantics of the ships he thought would be best for leaving the realm. When Loki arrived at the box with a mead canister in hand, En Dwi Gast shared a knowing smile and merely offered Loki peanuts for a little "peanut gallery" joke.

This lasted every day until Loki finally secured a ship--the Statesmen--with the right star maps and size to traverse space outside Sakaar and able to withstand whatever manipulation Loki might need to do in order to keep the ship from being too damaged by uncontrolled nebulaic magics in space. Overjoyed with success, Loki spent the day in the front lobby chatting with a growing crowd about his own times spent in the magic between realms. Particularly after the fight with Thor and Odin on the Bifrost. He was planning to invite this crowd and some of the gladiators outside the tower on a trip with him to "explore" as he had gained enough of a following for people to be likely to agree.

"There was a wormhole in space and time beneath me. At that moment, I let go." He chuckled as the crowd gasped with shock and one woman put a hand on his arm with sympathy.

"Loki! Loki, over here!"

The god froze and quickly turned to face the familiar voice, cursing inwardly as he saw Thor's joyous smile. The blonde was strapped to a chair and very eager to see Loki, who was somewhat dreading greeting his brother again. "Excuse me just a moment," he said to the ladies and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible when making his way over.

"You're alive?" he hissed impatiently.

Thor huffed. "Of course I'm alive."

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here?" the blonde wriggled in his chair. "I'm stuck in this stupid chair. Where's your chair?"

"I never got a chair."

Thor simmered. "Get me out of this one." He then squinted up at Loki. "And what's with your _hair_? It's all silver at the ends and--is that a buzz cut on half your head?"

Loki ignored the questions and glanced over at En Dwi Gast standing just a little ways away. "I can't get you out of that chair. I've made nice with the Grandmaster in the past few weeks; if I let out one of his prisoners then I'll lose what ground I've made."

"Weeks? I literally just got here."

"Time works a little different on Sakaar," drawled En Dwi Gast as he waltzed his way over to the whispering two. Loki pulled back and ignored eye contact with Thor as he coughed into his fist. "You see, on any other world I'd be like, millions of years old but here on on Sakaar..."

En Dwi Gast glanced over at Loki with a low leer and Loki gave him an unamused glance in return, then realized Thor was _staring_ with utter confusion and the looks they just exchanged probably looked like something a little more intimate than a mutual truce to not kill each other. "Anyway," the Elder laughed and then motioned to Thor, "You know this lord of thunder?"

" _God_ of thunder. Tell him."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "It took me a week and a half for him to call me god of mischief. I don't know if I can do much help."

"What is the point of you being my brother if you can't get me out of this!"

"Brother?" En Dwi Gast perked and sent Loki a heavy glance.

"Adopted."

Thor look betrayed but if Loki remembered from what Tony told him, Thor was very eager to derail Loki as his sibling during the invasion. He crossed his arms and the Elder looked between the two with a smirk. "I'm guessing he's a fighter like you."

Loki shrugged. "He gets the job done."

" _He gets the job done_." Thor whined in a pathetic Loki imitation. If Loki didn't already know smiting Thor wouldn't help him in the long run, he would have done it right then and there.

"Ah, sibling squabbles. Reminds me of me and my brother, Taneleer."

Loki balked. "Taneleer Tivan? As in the Collector?"

"You know him? Wow, the universe is a lot smaller than I thought." En Dwi Gast rubbed at his chin and then turned to Thor. "Hey, sparkler, you've come just in time for a penultimate Contest battle. If you can manage to defeat my current grand Champion I'll grant you your freedom with Loki here."

"You _never_ gave me the option of freedom when you shoved me into the Contest!"

The Elder grinned at Loki. "He's not as pretty as you."

"Hey!"

The rest of Thor's protests were lost to the crowd as guards picked up his chair and took him to the champion gladiator cells. Loki turned on En Dwi Gast with sharp eyes and anger in his breath. "If you believe I would be able to defeat Hulk then I should let you know that Thor, no matter how foolish he seems, can very much do the same."

En Dwi Gast patted Loki's back and squeezed his shoulder with a hum. "Oh, Loki; you really think if I'm tying your release to him that he's gonna win? You're cute." He gave one final squeeze and then waved for his band to play the music louder. "Play a wedding song for Loki while you're at it; I wanna take a lyre solo over the sounds of his dead engagement."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up is ragnarok! it's not a complete rewrite but obvious some things are gonna be different. it's just gonna go over some major scenes in loki's pov and set up infinity war and endgame~


End file.
